SUMMARY
In 2011, the presidential elections of 2010 resulted in violent clashes and severe human rights abuses. During the electoral preparations, Gbagbo tried, on several occasions, to limit northern participation by accusing the northern population of being composed by foreigners without the right to vote. When the Independent Electoral Commission gave the presidency to Ouattara, the Constitutional Council (in favor of Gbagbo) overruled the result by invalidating votes originating from the northern regions. The presidency was instead given to Laurent Gbagbo, a presidency quickly condemned by the international community. Several months of electoral difficulties, interferences, and alleged tampering demonstrated that ethnicity remained a key factor in the continued instability of the country. History was about to repeat itself as the presidential dispute unleashed a wave of violence. Indeed, the return to violence was considered by many as the continuation of the civil war.
During the electoral crisis, the landscape of the Ivory Coast was tainted by the swift and violent advance of FRCI (Forces Républicaines de Côte d'Ivoire). In the campaign to remove Gbagbo from power, the Republican Forces of Cote d'Ivoire carried out numerous attacks on the civilian population of captured cities. Officials of Alassane Ouattara denied any involvement of FRCI in one-sided violence; however several human rights organizations reported on numerous human rights abuses by the Republican Forces. Although no statements were made by officials of FRCI, the logic behind the targeting of civilians was indisputably ethnical. The "Ivorisation" concept used by politicians, distinguishing between Ivoirians of "authentic" native origin and those of "mixed" or foreign descent, had fuelled ethnic tensions for two decades. The presidential dispute, opposing Gbagbo of native origin and Ouattara of foreign origin had further divided the population. As a result, the main targets of the Republican Forces were the native ethnic groups supportive of Gbagbo such as the Guérés. According to several survivors, soldiers claimed that they had come to kill Gbagbo but since Guérés had voted for him, they would kill them all.
Apart from the repeated killings of the civilian population of native origin, there was no distinct strategy or pattern used by FRCI. However several witness accounts claim that soldiers would surround a village and open fire on people fleeing. When the location had been secured, the attackers would start working through houses looking for members of the targeted ethnicities. When found, civilians were either immediately executed or captured and killed at a later occasion. Finally the perpetrators would scatter the surroundings of the village looking for survivors.
One-sided violence committed by FRCI primarily took place in the western parts of the country during the march towards Abidjan.
FRCI first became active as a one-sided actor in UCDP data in 2011, when the one-sided violence resulted in at least 25 civilian deaths. The threshold was reached in March of that year when the group executed civilians after the capture of the city of Doké.
