IVORY COAST: Red Cross finds mass grave in Abidjan where more than 30 people are believed to have been buried

Record ID: 181790

  • Title: IVORY COAST: Red Cross finds mass grave in Abidjan where more than 30 people are believed to have been buried
  • Date: 5th May 2011
  • Summary: VARIOUS ICRC TEAM AROUND ROTTING CORPSE
  • Embargoed: 20th May 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Cote d'Ivoire
  • Country: Ivory Coast
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,War / Fighting
  • Reuters ID: LVA1XM7ZSWF87EG86K9J41QSWLUS
  • Story Text: A field where children once played football has become a mass grave, a Red Cross worker in the Ivorian capital Abidjan told Reuters on Wednesday (May 4).
    Red Cross official Franck Rodjo said residents in the Abidjan neighbourhood of Yopougon had told the aid group that about 30 bodies were buried in the field.
    ''We've seen tombs on a football pitch. That was quite strong. This means that this pitch will no longer serve kids. A graveyard in the middle of a neighbourhood, we can't tell how many bodies, but according to some, there is a graveyard with about 30 people,'' said Rodjo.
    Red Cross workers have collected nearly 70 corpses since Tuesday (May 3) from the nearby streets of the sprawling Yopougon district, scene of the last pocket of heavy resistance since Laurent Gbagbo, president since 2000, was ousted last month by his rival Alassane Ouattara's troops.
    ''There are lots of dead. Lots of them, but what can we do? We will continue until the end to provide these people with dignified burials enabling them to find peace,'' said Rodjo.
    The continuing clashes in Yopougon highlight Ivory Coast's struggle to restore security and ease a dire humanitarian crisis following a post-election dispute in the West African state between Gbagbo and Ouattara, now president.
    Gbagbo refused to cede power after a November vote that U.N.-certified results showed Ouattara won, sparking open conflict that killed thousands and displaced more than a million -- reopening the wounds of a 2002-03 civil war.
    While Ivory Coast is showing early signs of returning to normal since Gbagbo's ouster -- with banks reopening, street traffic flowing again, and the cocoa industry poised to resume exports -- the nightmare of war continues for some.
    ''All the youths of the neighborhood were hiding in a restaurant when the FRCI showed up, mistook them for militants and killed them all,'' said local resident, Jean Kone.
    Automatic gunfire could be heard from the direction of the lagoon, where army commanders said pro-Gbagbo fighters -- many of them mercenaries from neighbouring Liberia -- had been driven by a days-long sweep to disarm or kill them.
    Residents said food and water were in short supply after pillaging and heavy fighting left shops and infrastructure in disarray.
    In Yopougon, a young girl attempted to drink water from a pipe near homes destroyed by recent explosions.
    ''We have always been together with the small group that stayed here. We have always stayed together, we need to form a family and this family needs to stay. Solidarity will be accentuated,'' said Modeste Dezeret, a Yopougon resident.
    Ouattara has said he expects to restore calm across the country by June, though FRCI commanders said it will be a matter of days before they defeat the remaining pro-Gbagbo fighters in Yopougon.
    Security also remains a concern inland from the Atlantic coast, especially in the west where hundreds have been killed in ethnically-driven violence and where armed men still operate.
    This has prevented many of the region's cocoa farmers from returning to their land. Ivory Coast is the world's No. 1 cocoa producer.
    Ouattara has promised to try to heal the nation's deep divisions by setting up a South Africa-style truth and reconciliation commission, and has also launched an investigation into Gbagbo and his inner circle for alleged abuses during the post-election power struggle.
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