Finding the truth

United Nations human rights workers have found the bodies of 68 people in a series of graves near Ivory Coast's largest city, Abidjan. The UN said in a statement on Monday that the dead were apparently victims of a militia backing the former president Laurent Gbagbo, who did not want to recognize the outcome of the November 2010 presidential election.

Rupert Colville, a spokesperson for the Office for the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva, said the UN was now interviewing the victims' families and witnesses to the killings in the Yopougon neighborhood to find out exactly what happened.

"The team is still investigating what went on there," Colville told UN Radio. "At the moment, all we know is that the victims were all, or at least predominantly, male. It [Yopougon] was a stronghold of hard-line pro-Gbagbo militia." Colville said that the situation in the suburb remained tense, with dozens more people killed there last week.

Seeking truth and reconciliation

Alassane Ouattara was sworn in as the country's president last Friday after months of violence left thousands dead and some one million refugees. It's been four weeks since Gbagbo was arrested and it's still unclear how the former enemies are supposed to live together in peace in the future.

Shedding light on the serious human rights violations of the past months appears a virtually unsolvable task for many people in Ivory Coast. But Ouattara has already made it clear which direction to take: He has pledged to set up a South African-style truth and reconciliation commission (TRC). It is to be chaired by former prime minister Charles Konan Banny, who has no allegiance to a particular political camp.

But Banny's nomination has drawn criticism. Activist Salimata Porquet said a politician is the wrong person to head such an institution, even if he is politically neutral.

"We need neutral people in the commission," Porquet said. "Organizations from civil society are less ensnared in political power struggles and there are several such groups in Ivory Coast. Besides, they are rooted in the communities, as well."

Justice for all?

Many Ivorians fear that a TRC will let perpetrators off the hook too easily. It is as yet unclear what will even happen to those people who admit their guilt. Should they be forgiven or will they face a trial? The International Criminal Court prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo has already said he would request a formal investigation. And activist Porquet has demanded that the Ivorian TRC not simply take over amnesty regulations, as previous African commissions had done.

"You have to take the specifics case of Ivory Coast into consideration and listen to the demands of the population," she said. "President Ouattara and Banny as commission chairman can't just present the people with a fait accompli when they want true reconciliation. The wounds suffered are just too great."

South Africa's TRC is considered a significant role model for Africa. It was formed in the mid-1990s to shed light on the crimes of the apartheid era. The idea of such a commission is repeatedly brought into play following wars or conflicts in African countries - not only in Ivory Coast. Such a commission was founded, for example, in Liberia following the civil war there.

But such commissions aren't just welcomed with open arms. South Africa's TRC, for example, was accused of neglecting the victims of violence. It was often the case that those perpetrators who voluntarily testified were granted amnesty. Ivorians therefore are demanding that the planned TRC set up a compensation system for the victims.

Quick and efficient investigation needed

German human rights expert Wolfgang Stefan Heinz from the Free University in Berlin said the quality of the commission's inquiry is vital.

"In my opinion, the most important factors are to start work promptly and secondly, the commission requires qualified staff, nationals from Ivory Coast, perhaps with international experience," Heinz said. "In the case of human rights violations in particular, you need good investigators, you need documentation, motivated people who are prepared to step up to the task and not consider it merely an administrative job."

For these reasons, Heinz said, the international community needed to play a more active role in the Ivorian efforts at reconciliation - in the first place, the United Nations. This would counter fears that the review of the country's past was too one-sided and let perpetrators off the hook too easily.

"In the past, for example, the United Nations has to a large extent stayed out of the concept of a TRC," he said. "Today, on the other hand, consensus exists that not just any general amnesties are accepted, leading to those responsible not being held accountable and no further investigations taking place."

Ultimately, politicians, activists and experts agree that the success of the Ivorian commission will depend on whether its work is recognized by the population.

Author: Jan-Philipp Scholz / sac
Editor: Michael Knigge