| Summary: | Côte d'Ivoire's November 2010 elections sparked five months of serious human rights abuses when former President Laurent Gbagbo refused to accept internationally recognized results that declared his opponent, Alassane Ouattara, the winner. The United Nations, a national commission of inquiry created by President Ouattara, and national and international human rights organizations, including Human Rights Watch, all documented war crimes and likely crimes against humanity by both pro-Gbagbo and pro-Ouattara forces. Since his May 2011 inauguration, President Ouattara has repeatedly affirmed his commitment to hold perpetrators of serious crimes to account, regardless of political affiliation or military rank. Yet nearly two years later, while criminal cases are pending against more than 150 individuals from the Gbagbo camp for crimes committed during the post-election crisis, none have been brought against pro-Ouattara forces. It is imperative that Ivorian authorities break from the country's dangerous legacy of impunity for people close to the government in power, which has fed the repeated episodes of violence in Côte d'Ivoire over the last decade. This report identifies areas where the Ivorian government and its international partners, including the European Union, the United Nations, France, and the United States, should provide more financial, technical, and diplomatic support to judges and prosecutors so that they are better equipped to turn President Ouattara's rhetoric into reality.
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