P 040714Z FEB 09
FM AMEMBASSY ABIDJAN
TO SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4892
INFO ECOWAS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

UNCLAS ABIDJAN 000083 
 
 
STATE FOR DRL, AF/RSA, AF/W 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PREL PGOV IV
SUBJECT: UPDATE ON THE IVOIRIAN NATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS 
COMMISSION 
 
REF: 08 ABIDJAN 638 
 
 
¶1.  (U)  On January 22, Poloff met with President Victorine 
Wodie and Executive Secretary Dr. Gervais Boga of the 
National Human Rights Commission (CNDHCI) to discuss the 
commission's activities since it officially began work in 
July 2008.  Wodie explained that the real work of the 
commission will begin in 2009, because the commission was 
busy in 2008 setting up its offices, drafting regulations 
governing the organization, and securing salaries for both 
the executive committee and commissioners.  That said, CNDHCI 
did manage to accomplish several key steps in 2008. 
 
¶2.  (U)  First, CNDHCI's initial draft of its 2007-2008 
report has been reviewed and is expected to be ready for 
publication in February.  Second, the commission has created 
subcommissions to deal with specific human rights issues, 
including prison conditions, teacher strikes, toxic waste 
victims, and community conflicts, to name a few.  Regional 
commission members have also been assigned to each of the 
country's 19 regions.  On the budget front, Wodie has more or 
less resolved the salary issue, and the five Executive 
Committee members are now receiving salaries.  The remainder 
of the commissioners are also now beginning to see their 
allowances go into effect. 
 
¶3.  (U)  The commission's hotline and executive office 
telephone numbers, which were widely publicized in 
newspapers, have kept phones ringing off the hook as 
Ivoirians have called in to report human rights abuses.  To 
date, the commission has recorded 252 reported cases of human 
rights violations.  Wodie attributes the number of phone 
calls to the high expectations the Ivoirian public has 
regarding the commission.  She attributes this in part to the 
commission's success in resolving some cases simply by making 
phone calls and/or getting directly involved in cases. 
 
¶4.  (U)  Wodie reiterated that many of her commissioners, who 
are not human rights experts, still require training.  She 
said she would try to pursue greater collaboration and 
cooperation with the UN Human Rights Division on this front. 
(Note: Embassy Abidjan arranged with the VOLVIS program in 
Washington for two CNDHCI members to meet with human rights 
organizations in the U.S. in November 2008). 
 
 
NESBITT