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Lack of Civilian Protection by Foreign Military Forces

Human Rights Watch researchers spoke with several individuals who reported that during the night of March 24 and throughout the day on March 25 they telephoned the headquarters of the United Nations Mission in Cote d’Ivoire and/or Licorne (French military operation in Côte d’Ivoire) force headquarters in Abidjan to report violations in progress including raids on neighborhoods, shooting of demonstrators by the Ivoiran security forces, and the rounding up or beating of civilians. In all cases, the individuals were told that help could not be sent either because it was not within their mandate to act, or they lacked the logistical means to intervene effectively.

French security personnel and United Nations personnel told Human Rights Watch that the international forces of MINUCI were deployed as a peacekeeping operation, and were thus not there to do police work and/or riot control; that their zone of operation is exclusively within the ‘Confidence Zone’ which separates the areas of government and rebel control; and that they lacked the human or logistical resources to have intervened effectively.³⁴ One French source noted Licorne’s willingness to actively protect civilians within their zone of operation, but said that doing so in Abidjan, given the inherent volatility and demonstrated anti-French sentiments of militia groups, would have led to more confrontation and very likely loss of life.³⁵

Local human rights groups interviewed by Human Rights Watch interpreted Article 9 of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1464 of February 4, 2003, which states that the French and ECOWAS military forces, operating under Chapter VII were authorized to “…ensure the protection of civilians immediately threatened with physical violence within their zones of operation using the means available to them,” as including Abidjan, particularly given the concentration of abuses which regularly occur there.