Ivory Coast

After the disputed November 2010 presidential elections, incumbent Laurent Gbagbo and rival Alassane Ouattara, whom the United Nations recognized as the winner, waged a months-long struggle for power led by partisan media outlets. The fight was centered in the economic capital, Abidjan, where Gbagbo controlled the national media and security forces. Ouattara enjoyed the support of a handful of newspapers and set up an improvised television station in the hotel where he was protected by U.N. peacekeepers. Both sides targeted rival outlets with reprisals, forcing numerous journalists into hiding. A journalist and a media worker were murdered in the violence. Fighters loyal to Ouattara clashed with Gbagbo troops for control of the national public broadcaster Radiodiffusion Télévision Ivoirienne in March and April, damaging studios and transmitters and knocking the station off the air, according to news reports and local journalists. While media movements were limited during the final battle for Abidjan, some citizen journalists provided exclusive footage of explosions and military operations by posting unedited videos on social media. With Gbagbo's April 11 capture, Ouattara assumed power and promised reconciliation, but his administration jailed a pro-Gbagbo TV host on antistate charges and his forces ransacked and occupied media outlets loyal to the former president. Journalists seen as sympathetic to Gbagbo faced continued harassment.

New York, January 5, 2012--The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes Friday's decision by a judge in Abidjan to release on bail former Ivorian state television presenter Hermann Aboa and calls on prosecutors to drop the politicized charges against him.

New York, December 14, 2011--The government of Ivory Coast should immediately lift its suspensions on the circulations of three newspapers that published critical commentaries on the country's five-month post-election conflict and its aftermath, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

Stark regional differences are seen as jailings grow significantly in the Middle East and North Africa. Dozens of journalists are held without charge, many in secret prisons. A CPJ special report

This week, former Ivory Coast ruler Laurent Gbagbo was extradited to the Hague to account for alleged human rights violations before the International Criminal Court. Justice appears to be slower in coming to rival fighters loyal to current President Alassane Ouattara. According to CPJ research, Ouattara's forces have been involved in the deaths of two journalists, most recently Gilles Tutsi Murris Dabé.

Dabé, 39, a presenter with private Radio Nostalgie, was killed by a stray bullet around midnight on November 20, after fighters from the pro-Ouattara Republican Forces of the Ivory Coast (known by the French acronym FRCI) opened fire at a car at a checkpoint near the president's private residence, according to news reports and local journalists. The fighters opened fire after the driver refused to stop, witnesses told CPJ.

New York, November 28, 2011--The administration of Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara has detained without charge three journalists from an opposition newspaper since Thursday, in violation of the country's own press law and constitution, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

New York, September 9, 2011--CPJ is relieved that fighters loyal to Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara relinquished control last week of offices belonging to newspaper publishers who supported ousted President Laurent Gbagbo, local journalists and news reports said.

New York, August 4, 2011--The government of Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara, who pledged to uphold democracy in a Friday meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama, has suspended a newspaper over a reprinted opinion column criticizing the White House meeting, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

Dear Secretary-General Ban: Ahead of your Wednesday meeting with new Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara, and given your express commitment to make press freedom a priority during your second term as United Nations Secretary-General, we call on you to urge President Ouattara to reinforce the rule of law, the impartiality of justice, and the promotion of national reconciliation by ending the persecution of journalists and media outlets that were favorable to former leader Laurent Gbagbo.

New York, July 22, 2011--Authorities in Ivory Coast detained a journalist on Thursday for moderating a TV talk show favorable to ousted former ousted president Laurent Gbagbo, according to local journalists.