Ivory Coast accused of rights abuses

The US says the security forces act with impunity

By Mark Doyle in Abidjan

The United States has attacked the Ivory Coast Government for what it says are persistent human rights abuses and advised it to work towards restoring its former role as an important actor in African affairs.

We see increasingly the security forces acting with impunity

Ambassador Mu

US ambassador to Ivory Coast George Mu told a news conference in the capital, Abidjan, that the human rights situation had deteriorated steadily over the last 18 months.

He also repeated the US position that the electoral process which brought the government of President Laurent Gbagbo to power last year was flawed when several presidential candidates were excluded from running.

Ambassador Mu condemned the arbitrary arrest of citizens, the torture of detainees and extortion by the security forces as some of his concerns.

"It appears to us to be continuing with no end. We see increasingly the security forces acting with impunity," he said.

The attack was one of the frankest public critiques ever made in Abidjan by a senior diplomat.

Until as recently as two years ago, such strong criticism would have been unthinkable.

Turmoil

The West has traditionally had a cosy relationship with Ivory Coast, seeing the world's largest cocoa-producer as a key African player it wants to keep onside.

But the political turmoil which began with a military coup in 1999 and then last year's controversial elections have changed the atmosphere.

The Ivory Coast Government recently acknowledged a sharp increase in what it called racketeering by the security forces, which it has pledged to stop.

Ambassador Mu welcomed this initiative as a step in the right direction but said he would wait and see how it was applied in practice.