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FM AMEMBASSY ABIDJAN
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INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 ABIDJAN 000616 
 
SIPDIS 
 
NOFORN 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/06/2016 
TAGS: KPKO PREL PGOV ASEC IV
SUBJECT: FESCI UNDER SERGES KOFFI: THE FIRST YEAR 
 
REF: A. 2005 ABIDJAN 01116 
 
     ¶B. ABIDJAN 00428 
     ¶C. ABIDJAN 00259 
 
Classified By: Phaedra Gwyn for reasons 1.4 b&d 
 
¶1.  (C) SUMMARY: FESCI (Federation of High School and 
University Students of Cote d'Ivoire) was created by 
President Gbagbo and other professors in 1992 at the birth of 
Cote d'Ivoire's multi-party system to give students a voice 
in the new political environment.  It rapidly degenerated 
into a mafia-like organization, suppressing democratic values 
and dissent.  Today, under Serges Koffi, it operates with 
impunity on and off campus, kidnapping and possibly torturing 
enemies, stopping classes at whim, and enriching its leaders 
by operating illegal businesses on campus.  FESCI remains a 
volatile, dangerous pro-FPI force.  While in recent months, 
FESCI's bark has been more vicious then its bite, we expect 
that the organization will continue to assert itself in 
unhelpful ways once election preparations gets fully 
underway.  END SUMMARY 
 
¶2.  (SBU) FESCI elections were postponed for a few days in 
May 2005 when police found machetes on campus.  When Serges 
Koffi finally was elected to the post of Secretary General 
(SG), he promised to get rid of the machetes, make sure the 
university pays students their scholarships on time, and 
tackle overcrowding on campus.  Koffi has instead maintained 
the status quo, and FESCI remains a mafia-like student union, 
with arms hidden throughout campus bars and dormitories. 
FESCI also continues to extort a minimum of ten percent of 
students' scholarships.  Koffi maintains over 200 dormitory 
rooms at the University of Cocody, renting them out to 
students and non-students alike.  University administrators 
and campus security have been unable or unwilling to stop 
this practice.  An estimated 70 rooms are allotted strictly 
to FESCI members who act as spies on campus or as an informal 
militia, depending on the needs of the organization.  Most 
troubling, since his appointment as SG, Koffi has resorted to 
ruthless tactics to suppress FESCI's perceived enemies. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) On June 15, within one month of Koffi taking 
office, FESCI members kidnapped several students from a rival 
student union, AGEECI (General Association of School Children 
and Students of Cote d'Ivoire), who were putting up fliers 
for an upcoming AGEECI event (reftel A).  FESCI took the 
students to the University of Cocody campus and allegedly 
tortured them before UN peacekeeping forces were able to 
negotiate their release.  A week later, a female student was 
kidnapped by FESCI while posting leaflets in Cocody.  She 
alleges four students raped her before she was released. 
Koffi denied that FESCI was involved but in a newspaper 
interview advised the victim to not discuss the rape in 
public because to do so would only bring her morality into 
question and make it harder for her to find a husband in the 
future. 
 
¶4.  (C) In January 2006, after the International Working 
Group (IWG) recommended that the mandate of the National 
Assembly should not be extended, FESCI took to the streets 
along with other Young Patriots, shutting down the city of 
Abidjan for four days.  FESCI members burned tires in the 
street and prevented cars from passing.  Young Patriots 
painted in blackface manned roadblocks, threatening 
non-compliant passersby with sticks and rocks.  On the second 
day of the protests, FESCI members led by Koffi took control 
of the state-owned radio and television station (RTI) as 
government security forces watched.  Under threat of 
destruction of RTI's equipment, station personnel broadcast 
messages from Young Patriots' leaders urging youth to take to 
the streets and liberate Cote d'Ivoire.  After Nigerian 
President Obasanjo flew in to negotiate a settlement, Young 
Patriots finally left the streets and FESCI ceded control of 
RTI back to its Managing Director.  FESCI's actions 
underscored the continuing vulnerability of this critical 
state institution.  FESCI and the Young Patriots again 
demonstrated that with the tacit approval of Gbagbo and the 
nonintervention of security forces, they can paralyze the 
country at will. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Most recently, FESCI has been involved in the 
various teachers' strikes that have taken place over the last 
couple of months (reftel B).  Public university and secondary 
teachers began striking in early April for higher salaries 
and benefits.  In the middle of the strike, FESCI decided 
that since public school students could not attend classes, 
private school students (who were being taught by many of 
very same striking public school teachers), should also not 
be permitted to attend.  FESCI threatened schools that 
remained open with violence.  When a few opened their doors 
anyway, FESCI went to those schools and shut them down. 
Unlike the other institutions, the Catholic University 
 
ABIDJAN 00000616  002 OF 002 
 
 
refused to postpone its final exams.  When students arrived 
to take exams, FESCI showed up as well.  FESCI members 
stormed classrooms, seriously injuring two students, stole 
cell phones and purses, and destroyed testing materials. 
Eventually government security forces arrived and dispersed 
the FESCI members, allowing exams to continue. 
 
¶6. (S/NF) One of Koffi's closest allies, Kacou "Marechal KB" 
Brou helped bring Koffi to power by siding with him in the 
May 2005 FESCI elections against Charles Ble Goude's 
candidate for SG.  KB has been involved with FESCI since 1992 
and was the chief of security operations under former SGs 
Charles Ble Goude and Guillaume Soro.  According to sensitive 
reporting,  KB operates a FESCI training center at the Cite 
Rouge campus of the University of Cocody.  He also opened a 
nightclub on campus.  It is widely believed that FESCI uses 
the nightclub to store arms.  Also according to sensitive 
reporting, Young Patriots and FESCI members were armed with 
Kalishnikov rifles during the January 2006 demonstrations 
that came from various arms caches on campus. 
 
¶7.  (C) A less shadowy figure in FESCI is Ble Goude.  Since 
leaving the post of SG in the late nineties, he has continued 
to play a role in FESCI's activities and often communicates 
orders to FESCI on behalf of President Gbagbo.  A few months 
ago, FESCI students robbed a Fulbright professor of her video 
camera, accusing her of being a spy.  A call to Ble Goude 
resulted in the camera being returned the next day.  Ble 
Goude confirmed to the Ambassador the tensions existing 
between him and Koffi, commenting that the FESCI SG wants to 
be his rival.  Indeed, Koffi himself admitted as much during 
a meeting with Poloff before the UN sanctions were issued, 
suggested that the UN should sanction Ble Goude and not 
himself.  Koffi is likely at odds with more members of the 
ruling FPI (Ivoirian Popular Front) than just Ble Goude.  At 
a ceremony to launch the pro-Gbagbo National Congress of the 
Resistance for Democracy, Koffi was not given a post until 
FESCI members protested, throwing chairs and disrupting the 
meeting in the presence of the First Lady (reftel C). 
 
¶8. (C) COMMENT: Through its thuggish tactics, FESCI has 
effectively squashed the liberal exchange of ideas at 
Ivoirian schools.  The group is a good example of the culture 
of impunity that continues to exist in Cote d'Ivoire.  We 
expect that, as election preparations move forward, FESCI 
will attempt to impose a climate of increasing fear and 
intimidation against the opposition.  FESCI remains a 
volatile and dangerous force.  END COMMENT 
Hooks