Tag Archives: laurent gbagbo

Ivory Coast: three reasons for optimism

By Mark Pack | Wed 13th April 2011 - 2:25 pm

In both Rwanda and then, initially, in the former Yugoslavia, international peacekeeping troops were dispatched and then largely stood by as widespread, murderous violence took place around them. A mixture of weak mandates, limited military deployments and prioritising the safety of peacekeepers over those they were meant to be protecting meant little was achieved until – in the case of Yugoslavia – greater military force was deployed by the international community.

That lesson has strongly influenced many international interventions since – don’t intervene unless you are willing to do so with significant military firepower. The desire to minimise loss of lives …

UN forces open fire in Ivory Coast

By Mark Pack | Tue 5th April 2011 - 8:55 am

As the situation in violence-ravaged Ivory Coast deteriorates even further, there has been a belated stepping up of the UN’s role in the country in an effort to prevent civilian casualties. UN and French helicopters yesterday opened fire on military camps loyal to defeated President Gbagbo, who refused to leave office after November’s Presidential elections.

The situation in the Ivory Coast is rather like that in the former Yugoslavia, which followed a similar cycle of political systems failing, rising violence with civilians often the victims and an international community for a long period only willing to take very limited steps …

Posted in News | Also tagged andrew mitchell and ivory coast | Leave a comment

Ivory Coast debated in Parliament; Simon Hughes asks question

By Mark Pack | Sat 2nd April 2011 - 8:56 am

Having commented adversely previously about how little attention has been given to the spiralling humanitarian disaster in Ivory Coast by Parliament, it’s only fair to mention that it was the subject of an urgent question in Parliament this week and the previous lack of Parliamentary interest in the issue from Liberal Democrats was broken by Simon Hughes:

Simon Hughes (Bermondsey and Old Southwark) (LD): As well as encouraging Ministers to persist in their efforts to resolve the conflict, may I have an assurance that they are keeping in touch with the small but not insignificant community here in order

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Posted in News | Also tagged alassane ouattara, ivory coast, simon hughes and stephen o'brien | 1 Comment

Another 52 killed in the Ivory Coast

By Mark Pack | Fri 25th March 2011 - 12:55 pm

With a depressing predictability, my post at the start of the week about how the Ivory Coast’s violent political tragedy is being largely ignored has been one of the least well read posts on The Voice during this week.

But The Voice’s readers are pretty typical of the wider world in this respect at least. Until the end of yesterday, for example, Libya had got 54 mentions in Parliament so far this year, the Ivory Coast only six.

Yet this week has been another bloody one as defeated President Gbagbo refuses to leave office. The UN says 52 more people were murdered …

Posted in News | Also tagged african union, ivory coast and libya | 1 Comment

UN says attack on Ivory Coast civilians may have been a war crime

By Mark Pack | Mon 21st March 2011 - 10:25 am

So far, events in the Ivory Coast have received far less attention than those in Libya, even prior to the military intervention in the latter. Ivory Coast may not have the proximity to Europe of Libya, or a ruler to match the eye-catching nature of Colonel Gadaffi, but it has a President who has refused to leave office after losing an election and who has refused to cooperate fully with the UN.

UN troops have already been deployed to the country but a political stalemate has ensued as the UN has not been willing to authorise further steps, such as the …