U.S. Statement on the Report of the Independent Expert for Cote d’ Ivoire
As Delivered by Ambassador Eileen Chamberlain Donahoe
U.S. Representative to the Human Rights Council
Human Rights Council – 23rd Session
Geneva,
June 11, 2013
Madame President,
The United States thanks Independent Expert on Human Rights Doudou Diene for his work in Cote d’Ivoire. We also would like to express our appreciation to President Ouattara and the Government of Cote d’Ivoire for their cooperation with the Independent Expert.
Cote d’Ivoire’s continued engagement with the Council’s mechanisms has been a model of constructive cooperation. The conclusion of the Independent Expert’s recent visit to Cote d’Ivoire, his fourth since assuming his mandate, has allowed him to present a detailed and balanced recounting of the successes that Cote d’Ivoire has already enjoyed in its effort to recover from a long period of political crisis and violence, as well as the challenges that remain.
The United States has long supported the Ivoirian people. We appreciate the Independent Expert’s focus on justice and accountability as key ingredients towards reconciliation in Cote d’Ivoire, and the important role to be played by the various mechanisms created to promote justice and reconciliation, and for the work of those mechanisms to be implemented and acted upon. For example, it is crucial that thousands of abuses detailed in the report of the National Commission of Inquiry be fully investigated. We also look forward to working with the government of Cote d’Ivoire and the international community to address the concerns raised in the report.
We strongly support the Independent Expert’s observations that the Government must continue to make progress in implementing security sector reform, combat impunity by all parties to conflict through concerted and coordinated action of the Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Human Rights, and other investigative and judicial bodies, and build capacity of the judiciary in order to secure the democratic gains for which Cote d’Ivoire has struggled for so long.
Similarly, we support calls to strengthen engagement with civil society, including organizations that represent persons with disabilities, women, LGBT persons, and youth. We welcome the Ivoirian Government’s ongoing active engagement on preventing and prosecuting gender-based violence.
Thank you, Madame President.