MARCH 29, 2005
Posted: April 14, 2005
Fofana Mambé, Soir Info
ATTACKED
Mambé, a reporter for the private daily Soir Info, was viciously attacked while attempting to cover a street demonstration by police officers in the commercial capital, Abidjan. Local sources said police officers protesting non-payment of war-time bonuses in front of the Internal Security Ministry assaulted Mambé with night sticks as the journalist photographed the demonstration.
Mambé's assailants had identified him as a journalist, and his car was marked "Press," a source at the newspaper told CPJ. The reporter was treated at a hospital for head wounds and a swollen eye following the assault.
Ivory Coast has been engulfed in civil conflict since an attempted army uprising in 2002 led to anti-government rebels seizing control of the northern part of the country.
MAY 9, 2005
Posted: May 10, 2005
Honoré Sepe, Le Front
HARASSED
Three armed gendarmes came to Honoré Sepe's house at 4 a.m. and demanded to be let in, although they admitted they had no warrant, according to the journalist. Sepe refused to let them in and instead called his lawyer. As he was on the phone, the gendarmes forced an entry, according to Sepe. They accused him of colluding with Ivory Coast's Forces Nouvelles (FN) rebels, which he strongly denied. Sepe told them he had been a journalist for 14 years and was not involved in politics.
The gendarmes proceeded to search every room of the house, seizing his mobile phone, computer and address book, according to Sepe. He was then ordered to accompany them to the gendarmerie, which he did, along with his wife. Sepe told CPJ he was interrogated for several hours about his relationship with the FN and with certain persons listed in his address book who belong to the opposition RDR party. He said his interrogators focused on these names, despite the fact that his address book also contained contacts for members of other political parties.
Sepe told CPJ that the gendarmes also demanded the password to his computer, which he gave them. They went into his computer and questioned him about a photograph they found of a rebel commander. They also questioned his wife.
Sepe told CPJ that he was freed just after 1 p.m., after being told that he was being released unconditionally.
JULY 15, 2005
Posted: July 18, 2005
Radio France Internationale
CENSORED
A media regulatory agency ordered Radio France Internationale (RFI) to halt its FM broadcasts in Ivory Coast until it retracted two disputed reports and paid a fine. The order was the latest incident pitting Ivoirian authorities against the France-based public broadcaster, whom President Laurent Gbagbo's supporters accuse of being biased against the government. RFI's Paris headquarters issued a statement protesting the suspension, and defending its news coverage.
The National Council on Communication (known as the CNCA) accused RFI of failing to get comment from military sources in a recent piece on the death of a military commander; and of citing a UN report on civilian massacres, the existence of which was later denied by a UN mission spokesman. In its statement, RFI stood by its reporting, saying it had properly verified and cross-checked its information.
The CNCA ordered RFI to pay a fine of 9 million CFA francs (US$16,577). The media regulator also demanded that RFI air a retraction of both reports "at least five times," once it is allowed to begin broadcasting again.
RFI has a large audience in Ivory Coast, which is bitterly divided between a government-held south and a rebel-held north. Government supporters accuse French and pro-opposition media of supporting the rebels. Local newspapers tend to be divided along partisan lines and their journalists often face serious threats from one side or the other.
RFI's FM broadcasts have been cut off before during politically sensitive periods, according to CPJ research. In November 2004, unidentified assailants crippled FM transmissions of international radio stations, including RFI, just before the government launched raids on rebel positions in the north of the country.
JULY 25, 2005
Posted: July 28, 2005
Le Patriote, 24 Heures, Le Jour Plus, Le Front, Nord-Sud Quotidien, Dernières Nouvelles d'Abidjan, Le Nouveau Réveil, and Dernière Heure.
HARASSED, CENSORED, THREATENED
Pro-government militia forcibly disrupted the distribution of private newspapers around the administrative capital Abidjan, threatening the papers and forcing some to evacuate their premises, according to local sources. Two dailies, Le Nouveau Réveil and Dernière Heure, failed to publish the following day.
Monday morning, militia known as Young Patriots entered Edipresse, the sole distributor of private newspapers, saying that pro-opposition papers were forbidden, CPJ sources said. They proceeded to destroy hundreds of copies, including those of the dailies Le Patriote, 24 Heures, Le Jour Plus, Le Front, Nord-Sud Quotidien, Dernières Nouvelles d'Abidjan, Le Nouveau Réveil, and Dernière Heure.
A number of the newspapers and their journalists received threats that their headquarters would be burned down and their staff killed, according to CPJ sources. Several editors appealed to United Nations forces and the government to provide security. The U.N. said their troops were overextended in other areas of the country and the government authorities promised help, but have so far failed to provide any, the editors said.
Additional groups of Young Patriots threatened and attacked newsvendors at major sales points in the city, CPJ sources said. Some fighting broke out, and papers were destroyed.
The incidents followed a speech on the preceding Sunday by Young Patriots leader Charles Blé Goudé, who called for a ban on pro-opposition newspapers and blamed rebel and opposition forces for two violent episodes on Saturday, July 23, in which unidentified assailants attacked a police station in a northern suburb of Abidjan and briefly seized the town of Agboville, according to international sources.
JULY 26, 2005
Posted: July 28, 2005
José Stéphane Koudou, Le Jour Plus
ATTACKED
Supporters of the ruling Front Populaire Ivoirien (FPI) party brutally assaulted Koudou, a political reporter for the private daily Le Jour Plus, according to local sources. The attack occurred as Koudou was reporting on a press conference planned by the youth wing of an alliance of opposition parties in the commercial capital, Abidjan.
Pro-FPI militia known as Young Patriots disrupted the press conference and attacked opposition supporters who were attending, according to local news reports. According to Koudou's colleagues, his assailants confiscated his press card, which clearly showed that he worked for Le Jour Plus – a newspaper considered to be pro-opposition by FPI militants.
Koudou's coworkers told CPJ that the journalist was beaten with iron bars, and that he sustained serious injuries on his skull, jaw and back from the assault.
JULY 27, 2005
Posted: August 17, 2005
Radiodiffusion Télévision Ivoirienne (RTI)
HARASSED, CENSORED
A group of armed, uniformed soldiers stormed the Abidjan offices of state broadcaster Radiodiffusion Télévision Ivoirienne (RTI) and instructed directors not to broadcast footage of opposition members, according to CPJ sources and local news reports. The soldiers identified themselves as members of the Republican Guard but refused to give their names.
A CPJ source said that the ban extended to members of a coalition of opposition parties and former rebels known as the G-7; to members of an alliance headed by opposition Rassemblement des Républicains (RDR) leader Alassane Ouattara and former president Henri Konan Bedié; and to Hamed Bakayoko, an RDR minister in the current power-sharing government. Bakayoko had recently requested that he be allowed to respond on national television to criticisms leveled against him by members of President Laurent Gbagbo's Front Populaire Ivoirien (FPI) party.
It was unclear who had ordered the soldiers' action. In response, RTI's general manager, Kébé Yacouba, announced that RTI would bar coverage of all political parties, including the ruling FPI.
The incident followed threats against private media and journalists by the pro-FPI Young Patriots militia, which harassed distributors and vendors, and forced the evacuations of some newspaper offices on July 26. A number of the newspapers and their journalists received threats that their headquarters would be burned and their staff killed, according to CPJ sources.
Ivory Coast has been divided between a rebel-held north and a government-held south since civil war broke out in 2002. Under the Pretoria peace agreement signed in April, 2005, by parties to the conflict, RTI "must be used in favor of unity and national reconciliation."
On August 14, RTI's board announced that it was lifting the ban on coverage of political parties, according to local news reports. Speaking on national television, board Chairman Maurice Bandama said this was because the political climate had eased somewhat. However, he urged political parties toward moderation and warned that RTI would not broadcast anything it deemed to be electioneering, since the official election campaign for October polls had not yet started.
AUGUST 24, 2005
Posted September 8, 2005
All newspapers
THREATENED
At a meeting with local journalists the head of Ivory Coast's armed forces threatened to ban newspapers that fail to work "in the interests of the nation." General Philippe Mangou told journalists to check their sources and avoid hate speech. He also warned them to be patriotic, according to local and international news reports.
"Otherwise, we will have to assume our responsibilities and close those newspapers that continue to be apologists for violence and for the rebellion," Mangou said.
He also called for a press blackout of statements by dissident army officers Mathias Doué and Jules Yao Yao, who have called for the removal of President Laurent Gbagbo.
At the same meeting, Republican Guard commander Dogbo Blé Brunot told journalists, "Ivory Coast is at war, and when a country is at war, even in so-called developed democracies, there is no freedom of the press."
Ivory Coast has been divided between a rebel-held north and government-held south since 2002, with UN and French troops trying to oversee an uneasy peace.
The army statements came the day before rebels announced they would boycott a planned October 30 presidential election aimed at reunifying the country. The rebels said Gbagbo had skewed key legislation on citizenship and nationality to ensure his victory and exclude from the vote many of their supporters in the north.
AUGUST 2005
Posted September 8, 2005
Eddy Péhé, Le Nouveau Réveil
THREATENED
Péhé, editor of pro-opposition daily Le Nouveau Réveil, told CPJ that he had received death threats over the phone from anonymous callers who accused him of supporting the rebels that have controled the northern half of Ivory Coast since 2002. Péhé said he believed the threats were related to his work. He said he had informed government and UN authorities but that nothing had been done so far to ensure his security.
In July, a pro-government militia known as the Young Patriots disrupted distribution of private newspapers, including Le Nouveau Réveil, and threatened staff. Last November, during a political crisis, the Young Patriots attacked some of the same papers. The militia torched the offices of private newspapers Le Patriote and 24 Heures, disrupting publication and causing the papers to relocate temporarily.