The 2010–11 Ivorian crisis was a political crisis in Ivory Coast which began after Laurent Gbagbo, the President of Ivory Coast since 2000, was proclaimed the winner of the Ivorian election of 2010, the first election in the country in 10 years. The opposition candidate, Alassane Ouattara, and a number of countries, organisations and leaders worldwide claimed Ouattara had won the election. After months of attempted negotiation and sporadic violence, the crisis entered a decisive stage as Ouattara's forces began a military offensive in which they quickly gained control of most of the country and besieged key targets in Abidjan, the country's largest city. At the time, international organizations reported numerous human rights violations, and the UN undertook its own military action with the stated objective to protect itself and civilians.
A significant step in bringing an end to the crisis occurred on 11 April 2011 upon the capture and arrest of Gbagbo in Abidjan by pro-Ouattara forces backed by French forces.
Announcement of results and post-election conflict On 2 December 2010, Youssouf Bakayoko, head of the Ivorian Commission Electorale Indépendante (CEI), announced provisional results showing that Alassane Ouattara had won the Ivorian election of 2010 in the second round with 54.1% of the vote, against 45.9% for Laurent Gbagbo; he reported that turnout was 81.09%. Results had been expected and then postponed for days, beyond the deadline, and Bakayoko's appearance to announce the results—at an Abidjan hotel heavily guarded by the UN—took the press by surprise.David Lewis and Loucoumane Coulibaly, "Ivory Coast's Ouattara wins vote – election chief" , Reuters, 2 December 2010. Bakayoko reportedly chose to announce the results at the hotel, which Ouattara had been using as "his base", because he wanted to have the security of UN protection when doing so.David Lewis and Tim Cocks, "Ivory Coast seals borders after opposition win" , Reuters, 2 December 2010.
Paul Yao N'Dre, the President of the Constitutional Council (a body that was viewed by the opposition as favoring Gbagbo, because N'Dre was considered an ally of the President), then took to the airwaves to say that the CEI had no authority left to announce any results, because it had already missed its deadline to announce them, and consequently the results were invalid.Christophe Koffi, , AFP, 2 December 2010. According to N'Dre, the passing of the deadline meant that only the Constitutional Council was "authorised to announce decisions on the contested results." It was widely presumed that the Court would issue a ruling favoring Gbagbo, although the CEI's results indicated that Gbagbo could only be credited with victory if hundreds of thousands of votes were invalidated.
At the heart of the dispute lies article 94 of the Constitution of Côte d'Ivoire, which reads:
The Constitutional Council shall control the regularity of the operations of the referendum and proclaims the results.
The Council shall decide on: – the eligibility of the candidates to the presidential and legislative elections; – the disputes concerning the election of the President of the Republic and of the Deputies. The Constitutional Council shall proclaim the final results of the presidential elections.
Shortly after the announcements, the military sealed the country's borders.
Double victory claims On 3 December, the Constitutional Council declared Gbagbo winner. N'Dre announced that the results in seven northern regions were cancelled, and on that basis declaring the outcome narrowly in favor of Gbagbo, who was credited with 51.45% of the vote while Ouattara had 48.55%."Constitutional body names Gbagbo I. Coast election winner" , AFP, 3 December 2010.
On the basis of the CEI's results, Ouattara maintained that he was "the elected President" and said that the Constitutional Council had "abused its authority, the whole world knows it, and I am sorry for my country's image"."World leaders back Ouattara as Ivory Coast poll winner" , BBC News, 3 December 2010. He had the clear backing of the international and regional community for his claim to victory, but top officers in the military appeared to stand firmly behind Gbagbo.Tim Cocks and Loucoumane Coulibaly, Ivory Coast's Gbagbo sworn in despite poll row , Reuters, 4 December 2010.
The New Forces and Prime Minister Guillaume Soro both supported Ouattara's claim to victory;Tim Cocks and Loucoumane Coulibaly, "Ivory Coast's Gbagbo sworn in despite poll row" , Reuters, 4 December 2010. Soro said that he considered Ouattara the rightful President and offered his resignation to Gbagbo on 4 December.Roland Lloyd Parry, , AFP, 3 December 2010.
Gbagbo was sworn in for another five-year term on 4 December, defiantly declaring: "I will continue to work with all the countries of the world, but I will never give up our sovereignty." Sporadic violence and gunfire were reported in various parts of the country, including Abidjan. Gbagbo appointed a new Prime Minister, Gilbert Aké, on 5 December; Aké, an economist and university president, was already regarded as close to Gbagbo."Côte d'Ivoire: Laurent Gbagbo nomme à son tour son Premier ministre" , AFP, 5 December 2010 .
Ouattara himself was sworn in separately shortly after, saying that "Ivory Coast is now in good hands". Ouattara then re-appointed Soro as his prime minister.
Reactions
Domestic There had been rallies from pro-Gbagbo and pro-Ouattara sides. Simone Gbagbo, wife of Laurent Gbagbo, gave a speech in the pro-Gbagbo rally on 15 January 2011. Ivorian forces have fired live bullets to disperse protesters. In Abobo, an Abidjan suburb and a stronghold of Ouattara's supporters, there were many violent clashes between security forces and civilians.
Aya Virginie Toure organized over 40,000 women in peaceful protests that were violently repressed. In an impassioned interview on BBC News, Toure compared the ongoing Second Ivorian Civil War to the 2011 Libyan civil war and asked for support from the international community. She called for military intervention to remove Laurent Gbagbo from power the same way Charles Taylor was removed in the Second Liberian Civil War.
United Nations On 18 December, a United Nations spokesperson said in response to a Gbagbo demand that foreign armed troops leave the country that the UN did not consider Gbagbo to be the president, and that peacekeepers would continue to support and protect both Alassane Ouattara and Ivorian citizens.
On 23 December 2010, the United Nations Human Rights Council passed a resolution that "strongly condemned human rights violations that had taken place in Côte d'Ivoire...that occurred in different parts of Côte d'Ivoire in relation to the conclusion of the 2010 presidential election." The resolution was criticized by Amnesty International as having insufficiently addressed the situation.
International
Angola and Lebanon were the only countries to send their ambassadors to Gbagbo's swearing-in.Despite Growing Pressure, Ivory Coast Incumbent Gbagbo Still Has Outside Allies VOA The African Union—which, like the United Nations, formally recognised Ouattara as the duly elected President—warned that the conflicting results and subsequent political crisis could result in "incalculable consequences", and sent former President of South Africa Thabo Mbeki to mediate the issue. The US, UN, EU, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and former colonial power France affirmed their support to Ouattara.
On 5 December, former South African President Thabo Mbeki held separate talks with Gbagbo and Ouattara, acting as a mediator. The African Union had appointed Mbeki to lead an emergency mission to Côte d'Ivoire "to facilitate the rapid and peaceful conclusion of the electoral process and the efforts to find a way out of the crisis."Olivier Monnier and Pauline Bax. "Mbeki in Ivory Coast to Mediate as Gbagbo, Ouattara Each Claim Presidency ." Bloomberg, 5 December 2010. However, he left the next day without a deal.AU mediator Thabo Mbeki leaves Ivory Coast without a breakthrough , BBC World Service, 7 December 2010.
Gabonese opposition leader André Mba Obame cited the events in Ivory Coast and the international recognition of Ouattara as Ivorian President as inspiration for declaring himself winner of the controversial 2009 Gabonese presidential election, sparking an ongoing political crisis in Gabon.
On 28 December, presidents Yayi Boni of Benin, Ernest Bai Koroma of Sierra Leone and Pedro Pires of Cape Verde arrived in the country on behalf of ECOWAS, to convince Gbagbo to resign and go into exile for the sake of his country, while declaring it was Gbagbo's last chance before the deployment of military force against him.
On 20 December, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told a news briefing that it was "time for [Gbagbo] to go" and that "We stand ready to impose targeted sanctions, individually and in concert with our partners around the world, on President Gbagbo, on his immediate family, on those who are associated with him and those who continue to cling to power illegitimately.""White House: It's time for Gbagbo to go ," Reuters, 20 December 2010. On 21 December, the United States Department of State announced that it had imposed travel sanctions against Gbagbo and 30 allies. William Fitzgerald, the deputy assistant secretary for African affairs, said that trade sanctions may be imposed against individuals. On 22 December, State Department spokesman Philip J. Crowley said that Ouattara's victory was irrefutable and reiterated U.S. demands that Gbagbo step down.Indira A.R. Lakshmanan and Flavia Krause-Jackson, "U.S. Urges More Peacekeeping Troops, Sanctions to Stem Ivory Coast Chaos ," Bloomberg, 22 December 2010.
Threats, violence and human rights violations Between December 2010 and March 2011, there was a series of sporadic outbreaks of violence between Gbagbo's militias and security forces on the one hand and Ouattara's supporters on the other, primarily in the city of Abidjan, where both sides had large numbers of supporters. On 16 December 2010, clashes between opposition supporters and security forces in Abidjan and Yamoussoukro left 44 people dead. It was alleged that a mass grave of opposition supporters had been dug in a pro-Gbagbo neighborhood in Abidjan, but security forces prevented UN investigators from going to the site to check the allegations.UN Mass Grave Probe Obstructed In Ivory Coast: NPR Another mass grave was reported to exist in the village of N'Dotre, guarded by government militias.
Clashes between rival ethnic groups seen as being pro-Gbagbo and pro-Ouattara killed 33 people in the central Ivorian city of Duékoué between 3 and 6 January 2011. 11 more people were killed on 11–12 January when fighting broke out in Abidjan between security forces and Ouattara supporters, some of whom were using automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades, after the police attempted to conduct a raid in a pro-Ouattara district of Abidjan. The same area was the scene of further clashes on 21–22 February when police again attempted to raid it. 12 opposition supporters were killed when security forces fired machine guns and launched rocket-propelled grenades in the neighbourhood; the next day, opposition fighters ambushed government gendarmes (paramilitary police) and killed 10–15 of them.