Sanctions against Côte d´Ivoire
Background to the sanctions
In recent years, Côte d´Ivoire has been marked by political turbulence, violence and human rights abuses. Following a failed coup against President Laurent Gbagbo in September 2002, Côte d´Ivoire was divided between the "rebels", the Forces Nouvelles, who controlled the northern part of the country, and the Gbagbo regime in the south. The UN peacekeeping operation in the country - UNOCI - has worked together with French forces to maintain a buffer zone between north and south.
The conflict has its roots in the issue of national citizenship. For many generations, Côte d´Ivoire has had many immigrants from neighbouring countries - primarily Burkina Faso - and it is estimated that over 3 million of these people lack proof of identity or a residence permit. Several peace agreements have been signed, but the peace process has been slow. In March 2007, a political agreement on peace and reunification was entered into between President Gbagbo and the leader of the Forces Nouvelles, Guillaume Soro, following negotiations under the mediation of the president of Burkina Faso. The agreement covers the key issues that are the cornerstones of the peace process: identification of the population, disarmament of militia, restructuring the armed forces, re-establishing state authority, the legal system in the entire territory and preparations for presidential and parliamentary elections.
The presidential election was held in autumn 2010. According to the country´s independent electoral commission, the former prime minister, Alassane Ouattara, was the winner, but the election results were rejected by the constitutional court (which is under Gbagbo´s control), which declared that Gbagbo had won the election. The international community recognised Ouattara as the country´s legitimate president, but Gbagbo refused to leave power. Following a series of failed mediation attempts, an army under Ouattara´s control (the Force Républicaine de Côte d´Ivoire - FRCI) based on the transformed Forces Nouvelles took control of essentially the entire country at the end of March and beginning of April 2011. After just over one more week of fighting in the commercial capital Abidjan, Gbagbo was arrested on 11 April 2011. On 21 May, Ouattara was finally sworn in as the rightful president of Côte d´Ivoire. However, there is still turmoil, especially in the western parts of the country.
UN sanctions
In 2004, the Security Council passed restrictive measures (Resolution 1572) in the form of travel restrictions and the freezing of funds concerning certain persons, as well as an arms embargo against the country; in 2005 it added a ban on trade in diamonds from Côte d´Ivoire (Resolution 1643). The sanctions have since been extended on a number of occasions, most recently through Resolution 1980 (in 2011), to apply until 30 April 2012. The list of people was extended through Resolution 1975 (in 2011) to include former president Gbagbo and several of his close associates.
The resolutions are available to download here.
EU sanctions
As of 2004, the EU has implemented the sanctions passed by the UN and only added, independently, a special embargo against the supply of equipment which might be used for internal repression. Following the presidential election in autumn 2010, however, the EU autonomously tightened sanctions by making a number of other persons and entities within or close to the Gbagbo regime the subject of travel restrictions and the freezing of funds, in addition to the targeted measures against certain persons passed by the UN. Several such decisions - which were subsequently made more stringent - were taken by the EU Council of Ministers in December 2010, and in January and April 2011, and covered the national oil company and electricity company, certain banks, the seaports in Abidjan and San Pedro, and others. The reason for the EU´s autonomous lists was that these persons and entities were obstructing the national peace and reconciliation process and threatening the outcome of the electoral process. Since units loyal to Ouattara took over control of the capital of Abidjan in April 2011 and arrested former president Gbagbo, the EU has begun a process to lift its own additional sanctions. All entities have been removed from the list.
Relevant EU documents can be down-loaded under that heading.
