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PP RUEHPA
DE RUEHAB #0759/01 1951653
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 141653Z JUL 06
FM AMEMBASSY ABIDJAN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1592
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
RUEHSA/AMEMBASSY PRETORIA 1386
RUEHKI/AMEMBASSY KINSHASA 0324

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ABIDJAN 000759 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
KINSHASA PASS TO BRAZZAVILLE 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/14/2016 
TAGS: PGOV ASEC IV
SUBJECT: COTE D'IVOIRE: IDENTIFICATION PROCESS OFF TO A 
SHAKY START 
 
REF: ABIDJAN 718 
 
Classified By: POL/ECON Jim Wojtasiewicz, reasons 1.4 (B) and (D). 
 
¶1.   (C) Summary:  The launching of itinerant courts to 
document the approximately four million unregistered people 
in Cote d'Ivoire has gotten off to a shaky start.  On top of 
administrative problems, the leader of President Gbagbo's 
Ivoirian Popular Front (FPI) party has called upon Gbagbo's 
followers to block the courts "by any means necessary."  The 
rebel New Forces (FN) are also complaining about some aspects 
of the process but have given no indication that they will 
stand in the way.  End Summary. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) The communique issued after the July 5 Cote 
d'Ivoire "mini-summit" chaired by UN Secretary General Kofi 
Annan (Reftel) called for mobile courts (known in French as 
&audiences foraines8), charged with documenting the four 
million unregistered people born in Cote d,Ivoire, to be 
deployed around the country by July 15.  Since then, the 
Ministry of Justice has been scrambling to overcome a myriad 
of administrative problems to get the first 50 of these teams 
out into the field before the deadline.  By July 14, only ten 
had been deployed. 
 
¶3.  (U) Compounding the administrative problems, FPI 
Secretary General Affi N,Guessan, held a press conference 
 
SIPDIS 
July 13 at which he accused Justice Minister Mamadou Kone of 
conspiring with the FN to fraudulently register foreigners as 
Ivoirian citizens, and he declared that the FPI would use any 
means necessary to prevent the audiences foraines from taking 
place.  When a journalist asked if violence might be used, 
N,Guessan repeated &by any means necessary.8 
 
¶4. (U) The morning of July 14, members of the pro-Gbagbo 
Young Patriots militia reportedly assembled near the highway 
leading north out of Abidjan to block any audiences foraines 
teams from going north into rebel-held territory.  Justice 
Minister Kone then decided to postpone the departure of the 
magistrates until the security environment improves. 
 
¶5. (C) The NF are also unhappy with some aspects of the 
identification process.  In particular, they are protesting 
plans to hold separate hearings at each location for 
Ivoirians and foreigners, calling this discrimination. 
(Ivoirians are being asked to come during the first four 
days, while foreigners are to come during the next two days.) 
 Alain Lobognon, spokesperson for the FN, told us July 14 
that the FN are concerned that asking foreigners to show up 
on separate days makes them vulnerable to attacks by the 
Young Patriots.  Furthermore, he complained that since there 
has been no awareness campaign informing the population of 
the nationality code, people are not capable of 
self-selecting whether they are Ivoirian or foreign. 
 
¶6. (C) Justice Minister Kone told us July 14 that it was 
President Gbagbo who insisted on the separation of foreigners 
and Ivoirians.  In his view this is unnecessary because the 
nationality of Ivoirians and foreigners will be adjudicated 
and registered by the same team. 
 
¶7. (C) Prime Minister Banny has called a meeting July 15 with 
the political parties and the FN to discuss roadblocks in the 
identification process.  The first item on the agenda at that 
meeting is to be the separation of foreigners and Ivoirians 
at the audiences foraines.  Lobognon told us the FN will not 
attend this meeting because they have nothing to add to the 
discussion.  However, Minister Kone told us the same day that 
he remains hopeful that the parties will resolve their 
problems during this meeting and that he will be able to send 
out the rest of the teams on July 17. 
 
 
¶8. (C) Comment.  We are particularly concerned by N'Guessan's 
statements inciting Gbagbo's followers to block the audiences 
foraines.  If the FPI and the Young Patriots do indeed start 
blocking and interfering with this critical element of the 
peace process, and especially if they resort to violence, we 
may well need to consider possible responses,  including 
sanctions against N'Guessan and perhaps others.  However, 
while N'Guessan's remarks were disturbing and unhelpful to 
the peace process, it would be premature to impose sanctions 
until we see how the rhetoric translates into action.  The 
FN, for their part, have given no indication that they intend 
to stand in the way of these hearings despite their 
misgivings about the separation of Ivoirians and foreigners. 
End Comment. 
 
 
ABIDJAN 00000759  002 OF 002 
 
 
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