Bassam

16 - 17 November 2002

Background

The outbreak of violence in Côte d'Ivoire on 19 September 2002 marked the latest upsurge in political conflict in the country that has become increasingly prevalent over the past three years and is indicative of the heightened political tensions, typified by divisions between the mainly Muslim Northerners and Christian Southerners, since the direct intervention in Ivorian politics by the military in late 1999. This military coup resulted in the overthrow of the elected Government of Henri Konan Bedie and brought an end to a period of relative political stability and economic development.

This period of military rule ended in early November 2000, following a popular uprising by Ivorians against the military leader, Robert Guei, who at that time claimed to have won the Presidential elections in October. As a result, Laurent Gbagbo, who was widely believed to have triumphed in the elections, came to office . However, the election itself served to generate further violence between Southern Ivorians, who are mainly supporters of Laurent Gbagbo, and Northern Ivorians who are predominantly supporters of the main opposition political figure, Alassane Ouattara.

Political instability therefore continued with an attempted coup by military elements in January 2002 and repeated accusations by the political opposition that the Government was using ethnic and regional tensions to strengthen its own position and harass opponents. In addition, during this period, Amnesty International accused the security forces of extra-judicial killings of northern opponents. Furthermore, attempts during 2002 by the President Gbagbo, Mr. Ouattara and the former military leader, Robert Guei, to calm the situation failed.

Current Crisis

The current crisis in Côte d'Ivoire was sparked when a group of soldiers, reportedly recruited during the period of military rule under General Guei, mutinied as a result of their dissatisfaction concerning the Government's treatment of them and their impending demobilization. Initially, the simultaneous nature of the violence in Abidjan, Bouake and Korhogo suggested a coordinated action possibly amounting to a coup. However, General Guei, who was accused by the Government of masterminding the attacks, was killed in Abidjan a day after the violence erupted.

The rebels, who have occupied half of the country in less than a month and currently hold a number of cities in the North, demanded a new Government be formed, calling for the overthrow of President Gbagbo and fresh elections in which all political parties would be allowed to participate.

The Government initially spurned efforts by West African mediators, failing to sign a ceasefire agreement on a number of occasions, and launched military counter-offensives in an attempt to recapture rebel-controlled areas.

Hundreds of people have been killed and international humanitarian agencies have reported large-scale internal displacement amongst the population. In addition, human rights agencies have reported a number of extra-judicial executions, arrests and disappearances in Government-controlled areas in the South.

After repeated efforts, on 18 October the rebels signed a ceasefire agreement brokered by Ecowas (Economic Community of West African States), which was then accepted by the President as a basis for negotiations. Under the agreement, a ceasefire and the encampment of the rebel troops should be followed by negotiations between the sides.

The current French peacekeeping force, deployed at President Gbagbo's request along the line of control separating the two sides, should eventually to be replaced by West African troops. To date, the French peacekeeping force as indicated that the ceasefire is holding, but have warned that their troops could be withdrawn if the ongoing attacks against foreigners continue, which are often aimed at French citizens as it is widely believed that the main political opposition leader, Mr. Ouattara, is seeking refuge under French protection. In addition, citizens of Burkina Faso and Mali have also been targeted in Government-held areas. Peace talks, mediated by Ecowas, are now expected to get underway in an attempt to find a negotiated solution to the crisis.

Peace talks between the rebels and government representatives in the Togolese capital Lome have started since but not much headway has been made so far. At the time of writing this report, the main newsagencies report a resumption of the war and the emergence of a second rebel movement in the West of the country.

The conflict in Ivory Coast has strong ethnic and religious overtones and many analysts believe that a collapse of the Lome peace talks will trigger a civil war between the predominantly muslim North and the mainly christian South. With many Northerners living in the southern part of the country, this could lead to terrifying bloodshed and vast movements of refugees. A complicating factor is that Ivory Coast has large numbers of immigrants from neighbouring muslim countries, mainly Burkina Faso and Mali. Meanwhile hundreds of people have died already, and tens of thousands have lost their homes. The conflict has a devastating effect on the economy.

Media and the Crisis

In the past, commercial radio stations in the country have been generally free to take their own editorial lines. There is also a tier of some 30 low-power non-commercial community radio stations. In addition to two Government-owned daily newspapers, some twenty privately-owned dailies are also published, a number of which are often critical of the Government. State broadcaster Radio diffusion Television Ivorienne (RTI) operates two national radio stations and two TV channels. There are no private terrestrial TV stations, although pay-TV services are provided by Canal Satellite Horizons.

Already under some degree of censorship, the crisis brought about increased restrictions on the media, both through Government censorship and the threat of mob violence. Government officials have also publicly blamed the national and international media for stirring up the tensions in the country, using this as a primary excuse to obstruct the publication and broadcasting of independent media.

As a result, various press freedom groups have expressed grave concerns about the safety of journalists and deteriorating press freedom conditions in the country.

Since 19 September, a number of journalists have been physically attacked while covering demonstrations. In specific, a reporter for Le Patriote was attacked at an Ivorian Popular Front (FPI) party rally in Abidjan. A Reuters cameraman was also assaulted by FPI supporters outside the French Embassy and a French freelance radio producer has been held for a prolonged period at the state intelligence headquarters in Abidjan.

A number of newspapers, including Le Patriote, Tassouman, Le Liberal and 24 Heures have had to suspend publication due to threats of being targeted by Government supporters. In addition, the offices of the newspapers Le Patriote, Tassouman and Abidjan Magazine and the private station Radio Nostalgie have also been ransacked. Furthermore, the Government has jammed the broadcasts of local radio stations airing foreign news programs, including the BBC, Radio France Internationale and Africa No. 1.

It is worrying that the public sentiment on both sides of the front line is being manipulated by some officials and by certain media. Calls for war are becoming louder, calls for peace weaker.

Some newspapers however are surprisingly objective in their reporting. Or perhaps this is not too surprising considering the relatively highh level of education and certain cosmopolitian aspects of life in the main city of Abidjan, where all newspapers have their main offices.

The Programme

Around the time of the signing of the ceasefire, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), the Communication Assistance Foundation (CAF, Holland), International Media Support (IMS, Denmark) and Media Assistance International (MAI, Geneva) decided to set up an emergency aid programme for Côte d'Ivoire.

The programme was comprised of three components: a one-day seminar on conflict conscious reporting, a two-day safety training course and -possibly- the production of a special supplement to exisiting newspaper.

Preparations

The local coordination of the programme was confided to Franck Anderson Kouassi of the National Union of Ivorian Journalists (UNJCI). He drew up a list of 40 participants for the conflict coscious seminar and safety training and was responsible for the organisation.

For the conflict conscious reporting seminar journalist Catherine Fiankan-Bakongo was engaged via MAI-Geneva.

For the safety training course AKE Ltd. UK was engaged through the IFJ.

The international coordinator of the project was Vincent t'Sas, programme officer Africa of CAF-Holland. He also acted as a moderator during the conflict-conscious reporting seminar and as a translator during the safety training course.

The Conflict Conscious Reporting Seminar

Conflict conscious reporting is mainly based on conflict-analysis and resolution. The Ivory Coast seminar on this subject was held on Friday, 15 November 2002, which happened to be Ivory Coast's National Day of Peace -a public holiday.

The idea of creating a special supplement filled with "peace journalism" and humanitarian information was also brought to the attention of the participants.

The Safety Training Course

The course breathed professionalism and the AKE instructor showed great flexibility and willingness to give advice on any number of issues raised by the participants throughout the course.

Due to concerns of the participants about getting home before the start of the curfew, the course was cut short by about three hours.

The course comprised the following:

Weapons awareness - it is essential for journalists to know how to react if confronted by armed men and indeed how to behave if actually shot at.
Target awareness - methods of how to avoid becoming a target in a volatile and dangerous environment. To raise awareness of why people become targets and how to reduce the risk of becoming a target.
Planning - focuses on the stages before going on an assignment and highlights contingency planning that may help reduce the possibilities of becoming involved in an incident and what action should be taken in the event of an incident developing.
Location/Personal Security - enables the journalists to identify threats to their personal security in advance of a potentially hostile situations developing.
First aid - Medical elements cover the basics of advanced trauma life support, which are essential in the event of becoming involved in a situation where medical assistance is not available immediately.

The safety training course was implemented by AKE, which was formed in 1991 as a specialist consultancy and training company and is now internationally recognised as leader in safety training courses for journalists working in hostile regions and conflict affected areas. Its courses are used by major news organisations, including CNN, BBC, and Reuters. Recently, AKE implemented safety training courses in Pakistan for Afghan journalists in January 2002, for Palestinian journalists in the West Bank and Gaza in February 2002, and for Nepalese journalists in September 2002, organised jointly by the IFJ and IMS.

Comments/Conclusions

Participants showed great interest in learning about the different kind of weapons, their range and how to protect oneself against them.

However, it must be said that there was a discrepancy between the kind of journalists the course had been designed for and the kind of Ivorian journalists participating.

Very few of the Ivorian journalists present at the course looked like he or she had ever come close or would ever come close to a front line. Those I talked to also said that they had not been to the frontline. There is no tradition in West Africa of hands-on reporting of armed conflicts by local journalists. One reason is that none of them is properly insured.

It was the first time such a course was given in a West African country. Due to the fragility of the ceasefire (at the time of writing this report it seems to have collapsed) the course had to be organised on very short notice.

All participants received a copy of the IFJ International Code for the Safe Conduct of Journalism translated into French.

All participants received personal 1st aid medical kits.

Hilversum, Holland, November 29, 2002 Vincent t'Sas, International Coordinator

Contributions were received from

Communication Assistance Foundation
International Media Support
International Federation of Journalists
International Media Action
AKE Ltd