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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ABIDJAN 000515 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/15/2016 
TAGS: PGOV PREL ASEC KPKO IV
SUBJECT: MORE DETAILS ON PILOT IDENTIFICATION PROGRAM 
 
REF: A. ABIDJAN 0495 
 
     ¶B. ABIDJAN 0500 
 
Classified By: Poloff Phaedra Gwyn for reasons 1.4 b&d 
 
¶1. (U) Summary:  More details about the pilot identification 
process emerged on May 15, during a press conference by the 
Minister of Justice, Mamadou Kone.  The pilot identification 
program will target anyone over 13 years of age who is 
without documents.  Once the pilot phase has ended, the 
Ministry will begin planning for a nation-wide rollout, which 
would not begin until the first week of June at the earliest. 
 Nationwide, according to Kone, there are 3.5 million 
undocumented Ivoirians and foreigners living in Cote 
d'Ivoire. (Note: current population estimate is 17.6 
million.)  If an applicant is determined to meet the 
standards for Ivoirian citizenship, he/she will receive a 
nationality certificate after a 48-hour waiting period.  This 
nationality certificate will become the sole document that 
will be accepted as proof of citizenship for the purposes of 
obtaining a national identity card.  Although the Ivoirian 
Government is calling this a pilot identification program, it 
is important to note that no identification cards will be 
issued at this time, only birth and nationality certificates. 
 End Summary. 
 
¶2. (U) The first hurdle for the undocumented born in the 
seven pilot locations will be to return to their home 
villages and remain there during the week of the pilot 
project.  This requirement will be particulary burdensome on 
those displaced from the North to the South, as they will 
have to pass through multiple checkpoints and the Zone of 
Confidence to return to their place of birth.  At each of 
pilot location, two Ministry of Justice magistrates will hold 
hearings to determine nationality.  Applicants will be 
expected to provide any available family documentation and, 
if necessary, to produce witnesses from the village who can 
attest to their birth.  A doctor will examine each applicant 
to fix the year of birth.  If the applicant is able to prove 
to the magistrates that he/she was born in Cote d,Ivoire, 
they will accord him/her an Ivoirian birth certificate. 
 
¶3. (U) Once the relevant facts  - applicant's name, parents, 
names, parents, nationalities, and year of birth - are 
established, the magistrates will determine whether the 
applicant has a right to Ivoirian nationality.  Birth in Cote 
d,Ivoire does not automatically accord Ivoirian nationality. 
 Since 1972, to claim Ivoirian citizenship, a child must have 
at least one parent of Ivoirian nationality (acquired at 
birth or by naturalization).  If the applicant was born in 
Cote d'Ivoire but does not qualify for Ivoirian citizenship, 
he will be issued a birth certificate only.  Those who do 
qualify as citizens will be eligible for a nationality 
certificate.  According to Minister Kone, this nationality 
certificate will be the sole document accepted for purposes 
of issuing national identity cards at a date yet to be 
specified. 
 
¶4. (SBU) During the press conference, the majority of the 
questions concerned fraud.  Kone replied that there was no 
way to prevent all fraud, but, to have as clean a process as 
possible, birth certificates will have a hologram affixed to 
them, and nationality certificates will each have a unique 
bar code.  In addition, the list of applicants accorded 
Ivoirian birth and nationality certificates will be posted on 
a website and hard-copies of the list will be posted within 
the village for 48 hours before the certificates are issued. 
Anyone wishing to denounce an application as fraudulent must 
do so during the 48-hour waiting period.  Kone stated that 
applicants found to have committed fraud will be prosecuted 
but he did not indicate what would occur to someone who 
brings a false accusation against an applicant. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Other questions focused on the reason why 
"foreigners" would be allowed to participate and why the 
thousands of citizens who already have birth certificates but 
no nationality certificates, or whose identity papers have 
been lost or stolen, cannot take part.  Minister Kone 
explained that anyone born in Cote d'Ivoire, whether 
foreigner or Ivoirian, is entitled to a birth certificate. 
Only Ivoirians will receive nationality certificates and 
eventually national identity cards.  During this pilot 
program foreigners will receive birth certificates only, 
which they can then use to apply for residency cards at an 
unspecified future time.  Kone stated that there would be a 
separate process of identification, also at a time not yet 
specified, for those who have either limited documentation 
(e.g., birth certificate but no nationality certificate) or 
who have lost their documents. 
 
¶6. (U) Only persons thirteen years of age or older will be 
allowed to participate in the pilot project because the 
 
ABIDJAN 00000515  002 OF 002 
 
 
Ivoirian Government, in partnership with UNICEF, already has 
a similar program of identity "fairs" to document children 
under thirteen.  Since 2003, UNICEF has paid the travel and 
administrative costs for Ivoirian magistrates, court clerks, 
and doctors (to estimate the children's ages) to issue birth 
certificates in various cities of Cote d'Ivoire, including 
San Pedro, Abidjan, and Yamoussoukro, to children between the 
ages of three months to 13 years.  The last fair, held in 
November/December 2005 in the town of Aboisso, registered 
over 13,850 children.  UNICEF is currently discussing with 
the Minister of Justice the logistics of holding a fair in 
the rebel-controlled zone. 
 
¶7. (C) COMMENT:  The pilot project is a small step toward the 
issuance of identification cards.  Although it represents 
modest progress, there are many potential political and 
technical pitfalls ahead.  In particular, the process of 
issuing identity cards will apparently not even begin until 
the 3.5 million undocumented residents receive their 
certificates.  This will mean a long delay in the 
identification and voter registration programs that must be 
completed before proceeding with elections.  END COMMENT 
Hooks