(1) Côte d’Ivoire, (2) Yemen

Spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights: Rupert Colville
Location: Geneva

5 April 2011

(1) Côte d’Ivoire
The UN Assistant Secretary General for Human Rights Ivan Simonovic arrived in Abidjan on Sunday to evaluate the rapidly deteriorating human rights situation in the country. In Abidjan, we are obviously extremely concerned about the situation of civilians, with heavy weapons being used inside a densely populated urban area reportedly leading to dozens of deaths in recent days.

Yesterday, the Assistant Secretary General flew to Duékoué to link up with a UN human rights team already on the ground there, looking into the reported mass killings that took place in that area last week (28-29 March). We hope to learn more about what precisely went on there when he returns, but at this point it appears that several hundred civilians were killed in at least two separate incidents. Many others may have been killed in direct fighting between armed militias.

The Human Rights Council has, as you know, set up a Commission of Inquiry for Côte d’Ivoire, and they will of course look inevitably be looking into the killings in Duékoué and elsewhere. OHCHR will of course be cooperating fully with the Commission of Inquiry and we urge everyone else to do so as well.

Question: There are reports that President Oattara’s officials have denied any involvement in this.

Answer: Our understanding, at this point, is that fighters from both sides are implicated. But we will need to await the results of investigations before we can be sure of the precise details.

(2) Yemen
We are very alarmed by reports of disproportionate and excessive use of force, including machine guns, against peaceful protestors by Government security forces in Taiz yesterday, which apparently led to at least 15 deaths and dozens of serious injuries. This takes the total reported death toll since the protests began in Yemen to over 100, although this may be a conservative estimate.

We call on the Government to immediately cease the use of force against people exercising their rights to peaceful protest. We also call on on the Government to fulfill its earlier commitment to establish a commission of inquiry into recent allegations of killings and abuse by Government forces. This includes the incidents of 18 March, when more than 45 people were reportedly killed in Sanaa, as well as yesterday’s violent suppression of protests in Taiz.

There are also worrying reports of detention, harassment and expulsion of human rights defenders and journalists in Yemen. We also call on the Government to halt the targeting of minorities, particularly the marginalized group commonly referred to as the “Akhdam”.

We call on the Government to heed calls for human rights reforms in the country and urge a meaningful dialogue between the Government and opposition aimed at finding agreement on a peaceful way forward.

ENDS