A South African style Truth and Reconciliation Commission has been established in the Ivory Coast in the wake of the country’s civil war. The Commission, launched by President Alassane Ouattara in the last month, is tasked with healing the wounds sustained by the country as a result of the violence which followed last year’s disputed elections. The stand-off between the supporters of the incumbent at the time, Laurent Gbagbo, and his successor, President Ouattara, only ended with United Nations (UN) authorised strikes on the strongholds of the former.
Prior to 1999’s coup d’etat which brought the deposed President Gbagbo to power, the country, which is also the leading producer of cocoa in the world, was one of Africa’s most politically stable countries. The coup thereafter ushered in a period of political instability which culminated in the deadly violence which saw the death of about 3,000 people and the displacement of around 500,000 people in a 5-momth period between December 2010 and April 2011, according to observers and human rights organisations.
The newly sworn in Truth, Reconciliation and Dialogue Commission will consist of 11 members inclusive of civil, political and religious leaders. It was also revealed that Didier Drogba, the country’s most famous sportsman, will sit on the Commission as a representative of Ivory Coast citizens residing outside the country. It is unknown as yet, whether an amnesty, akin to that offered to perpetrators of human rights abuses offering full disclosure before South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, will be given or issued to perpetrators of the violence in the Ivory Coast. President Ouattara opines that the institution of the Commission is essential to the reconstruction of the country in the aftermath of the war. To this effect, President Ouattara states: “the truth means that we need to express ourselves with an open heart, and have the courage to tackle difficult questions such as retaliation as well as the violence perpetrated on our population”.
Whether the work of the Commission will be able to erase the scars left by the civil war remains to be seen. The concept of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission has existed for many years in the form assembled in post-apartheid South Africa or in a derivative format such as Argentina’s National Commission for Forced Disappearances. It is not without its detractors, several of whom assert that the amnesty a times offered to perpetrators of human rights violations in return for a full and frank confession and account of crimes partaken in prevents criminals and murderers from being brought to justice. Additionally, as confessors may become immune from civil or criminal prosecution, it is impossible to ascertain whether the confessors are indeed providing a full account of their criminal actions where confessions are not made under oath. There are also concerns that the survivors are forced to relive the horrors and violence visited upon them through the accounts of the perpetrators.
However, Truth and Reconciliation Commissions have championed a new reconciliatory approach in dealing with human rights violations following periods of civil unrest, political impasse or civil wars as opposed to the more adversarial civil or criminal prosecutions. There is also no doubt that the account provided by perpetrators provides an opportunity to ascertain, analyse and understand the reasoning behind their actions in order to prevent their recurrence in the future. Further and contrary to the views of its critics, the grant of amnesties, as was the case in South Africa, was only sanctioned where the Commission deemed that the crimes were “politically motivated, proportionate, and where full disclosure was given by the person seeking the amnesty”.
It should be noted that UN observers and human rights organisations at the time of the conflict reported that both sides were responsible for carrying out serious human rights abuses; these abuses included rape, torture and summary executions. The fact that only the supporters of the former President, Laurent Gbagbo, have been charged with crimes carried out during the crisis has not escaped the attention of observers. If the Truth and Reconciliation Commission is to be successful, it is important that it is not seen to be an avenue which merely enables the execution of ‘victor’s justice’. Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the Chairman of South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission concurs in averring: “the perception that ‘victor’s justice’ is being applied would greatly undermine the reconciliation process.” Only the bipartisan indictment of soldiers, mercenaries and fighters from both sides and a full and frank disclosure provided by all those involved will lend any sort of credibility to the Commission and set the country on the road back to the recovery it so dearly craves.
No comments:
Post a Comment