{"id":12146,"date":"2016-10-29T07:16:27","date_gmt":"2016-10-29T07:16:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/?p=12146"},"modified":"2016-10-29T07:16:27","modified_gmt":"2016-10-29T07:16:27","slug":"amnesty-international-cote-divoire-authorities-must-stop-mobile-detention-of-opposition-supporters-ahead-of-referendum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/?p=12146","title":{"rendered":"Amnesty International: C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire Authorities must stop \u2018mobile detention\u2019 of opposition supporters ahead of referendum"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><code><script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<!-- www.deltanewsroom.com --><br \/>\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display: block;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-2163942495525027\" data-ad-slot=\"1411897411\" data-ad-format=\"auto\"><\/ins><br \/>\n<script>\n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\n<\/script><\/code><\/p>\n<p>Authorities in C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire <a href=\"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Cotedeoire.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-12147\" src=\"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Cotedeoire-300x211.png\" alt=\"cotedeoire\" width=\"300\" height=\"211\" srcset=\"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Cotedeoire-300x211.png 300w, http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Cotedeoire-768x541.png 768w, http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Cotedeoire-1024x721.png 1024w, http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Cotedeoire.png 1032w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a> must stop targeting opposition members by curtailing their rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, Amnesty International said ahead of <span class=\"aBn\" tabindex=\"0\" data-term=\"goog_544842709\"><span class=\"aQJ\">Sunday\u2019s<\/span><\/span> referendum on constitutional changes.<\/p>\n<p>On 20 October, at least 50 opposition members were arbitrarily arrested at a peaceful protest and detained for hours in moving police vehicles. Some of them were dropped in several places in the main city Abidjan, others around 100 km away from their homes and forced to walk back in a practice known as \u201cmobile detention\u201d.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.alternativeadvert.com\/show.php?z=30&amp;pl=11343&amp;ad_type=59&amp;rl=180\" width=\"300\" height=\"250\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis form of inhumane treatment is at odds with international and regional human rights law and standards. Whether people campaign \u2018yes\u2019 or \u2018no\u2019 for the referendum, everyone, including opposition members, has the right to peacefully express their opinion and to have their dignity respected at all times. Members of the security forces responsible for this must be identified and held to account,\u201d said Ga\u00ebtan Mootoo, Amnesty International\u2019s West Africa researcher.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cC\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire needs to focus on creating a safe and enabling environment in which all voices can be heard. By unduly restricting the rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly of mainly opposition members and other dissenting voices, the authorities are failing to be on the right track.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>On 20 October, as anti-referendum protesters started to gather, police fired tear gas, clubbed the leaders and arrested at least 50 people.<\/p>\n<p>An opposition leader who escaped to the arrest told Amnesty International:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSecurity forces seized the cell phones of those arrested and loaded them in police vehicles that have circulated for hours throughout the city and outside Abidjan. After hours, they told them they were released but clearly indicated that since they wanted to protest they only had to walk all the way from there to the city. They called the practice \u2018mobile detention\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Amnesty International urges the authorities to stop this practice of arbitrary detention and calls on them to ensure that opposition members can freely express their views.<\/p>\n<p>Those who are still in detention solely for the peaceful exercise of their rights, must be released, including Tahouri Wase Marius, who was arrested after the 20 October protest and charged with disturbing public order. His trial is due to begin on 28 October, according to his lawyer.<\/p>\n<p>The former President of the National Assembly, Mamadou Koulibali, has been arrested twice since referendum campaigns began on 22 October before being released.<\/p>\n<p>Amnesty International has noted a worrying pattern of arbitrary arrest and detention of opposition members during peaceful protests or gatherings.<\/p>\n<p>During last year\u2019s presidential election period, more than 50 opposition supporters were arrested and detained solely for their political beliefs and for peacefully expressing their views. They were released after months in detention.<\/p>\n<p>Amnesty International delegates, including Alioune Tine Regional Director for West and Central Africa, met the Ivorian Human Rights Minister in February to raise concerns, including on the detention of prisoners of conscience, secret detention places and selective justice. The Minister requested 100 days to consider Amnesty International\u2019s recommendations.<\/p>\n<p>However, the government has failed to take any action, despite receiving a follow-up letter from the organization in April. Meanwhile arrests of opposition groups still continue.<\/p>\n<p><em>Public document <\/em><em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong><em>For more information or to arrange an interview please contact Amnesty International Press Office in West and Central Africa, Dakar (Senegal) on +221 77\u00a0658 62 27 or Email: <\/em><\/strong><strong><em>sadibou.marong@amnesty.org<\/em><\/strong><strong><em>\u00a0 ; Twitter: @amnestyWaro<\/em><\/strong><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<!-- www.deltanewsroom.com --><br \/>\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display: block;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-2163942495525027\" data-ad-slot=\"1411897411\" data-ad-format=\"auto\"><\/ins><br \/>\n<script>\n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\n<\/script><\/p>\n<p><code><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.alternativeadvert.com\/show.php?z=30&amp;pl=11343&amp;ad_type=59&amp;rl=180\" width=\"300\" height=\"250\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/code><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Authorities in C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire must stop targeting opposition members by curtailing their rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, Amnesty International said ahead of Sunday\u2019s referendum on constitutional changes. On 20 October, at least 50 opposition members were arbitrarily arrested at a peaceful protest and detained for hours in moving police vehicles. Some of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":12147,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"spay_email":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[23],"tags":[1615,3201,3203,3202],"class_list":["post-12146","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international-news","tag-cote-divoire","tag-gaetan-mootoo","tag-mamadou-koulibali","tag-tahouri-wase-marius"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Cotedeoire.png","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4oswh-39U","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12146","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12146"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12146\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12148,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12146\/revisions\/12148"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12147"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12146"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12146"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12146"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}