SUMMARY
After a series of delays, the results of the 2010 presidential elections were announced by the Ivorian Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) on 2 December. The presidency stood between Laurent Gbagbo, the man who had been running the country for a decade, and the opposition candidate Alassane Ouattara. With 54% of the vote, the commission declared Alassane Ouattara the winner of the second round, making him the new president of Ivory Coast.
Although international observers judged the elections to have been fair and just, the results of the IEC were strongly criticized by officials in the pro-Gbagbo camp. Their concern lay within the voting procedures of the rebellious north claiming that they had been rigged to favor the opposition. In the immediate aftermath, the Constitutional Council, headed by close allies of Laurent Gbagbo, pointed to the IECs lack of authority to deal with the matter since the deadline set up to present the electoral results had been missed. Supporting the concerns presented by officials within the FPI (Ivorian Popular Front), the council nullified the results of seven regions located in the northern parts of the country. As a result, the presidency was accorded to Laurent Gbagbo with 51% of the vote. Shortly after, the borders were closed, foreign media was forbidden from broadcasting and the forces of the United Nations present within the country were asked to leave by Gbagbo officials. The international community quickly condemned Gbagbo's illegitimate presidency by recognizing Ouattara as the official president.
The political turmoil between Gbagbo and Ouattara led to an outbreak of violence throughout the country. In Abidjan, militias that were directly linked to Gbagbo started attacking supporters, or alleged supporters of Ouattara. The most prominent militia was the Young Patriots (later known as AJPSN. Throughout a series of speeches held by militia leader Charles Blé Goudé during the early months of 2011, members were encouraged to organize checkpoints in order to prevent opposition supporters from circulating. This also concerned servicemen of UNOCI (United Nations Operation in Cote d'Ivoire); branded as enemies of the state. Furthermore, militia members were confronted with a dilemma; either they denounced foreigners who entered protected neighborhoods or they would be considered as rebels and treated as such.
With the militia-leaders call for resistance AJPSN organized roadblocks throughout the streets of Abidjan. Checking national identity cards, people with foreign origin were beaten, robbed, and often killed by machete. Summary executions were also carried out by the practice of necklacing; the use of a rubber tire filled with petrol put around the victim and set to fire.
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 fueled ethnic tensions for two decades. The presidential dispute, opposing Gbagbo of native origin and Ouattara of foreign origin had further divided the population along ethnic lines. As a result, the main targets of AJPSN were the ethnicities with foreign/northern origins also referred to as "Dioulas". People wearing traditional northern clothing or amulets were inescapably harassed and often executed. According to several witness accounts, AJPSN claimed that being a northerner or a "dioula" was the same as being a rebel. The numerous human rights abuses committed by AJPSN occurred with the consent of police or security forces who often witnessed the violations without interfering. One-sided violence committed by AJPSN primarily took place in the economic capital of Abidjan.
AJPSN 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 that year when the group entered the city of Abidjan, targeting alleged supporters of Ouattara and shot dead 7 civilians.
