HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS LAUNCHES AN URGENT APPEAL FOR THE PROTECTION OF THE CIVILIAN POPULATION IN CÔTE D'IVOIRE

16 October 2002



Following is a statement issued today by Sergio Vieira de Mello, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, on the situation in Côte d'Ivoire:
"The High Commissioner for Human Rights, who is seriously concerned about the deterioration of the humanitarian and human rights situation in Côte d'Ivoire, is launching an urgent appeal to the Government and the armed groups to take all necessary measures to end the suffering of the civilian population and to comply with the provisions of the Fourth Geneva Convention. Violations committed since 19 September 2002 - summary executions, arbitrary arrests, attacks based on nationality, ethnicity or religious beliefs, violations of the rights of the child, destruction of private property and population displacement - constitute serious violations of human rights which can be prosecuted either before the national judiciary or the International Criminal Court, whose statute has been signed by Côte d'Ivoire.
The High Commissioner deplores the absence of a cease-fire agreement and calls on the Government and the armed groups to cooperate with the negotiations being carried out by mediators of the Economic Community of West African States and the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General who are searching with both parties for ways to guarantee the respect for human rights and to improve the humanitarian situation. In the view of the High Commissioner, only mediation and starting a dialogue between all the components of Ivorian society in the spirit of tolerance which the country is known for will end the conflict".



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