Cote d'Ivoire
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Madam President, I am going to take a little time on something else that has to be said, and that is what I have been on the floor six times already talking about. The only reason I am continuing to do this is because somehow the State Department, the French, the United Nations, and all of them seem to be laboring under this misconception that I will go away and I will not talk about it anymore.
I am not going to go away. I am going to keep talking about it. The problem we have right now started some time ago. I will share with you some of the new developments today.
We are talking about the rigged election that took place in Cote d'Ivoire and the fact that someone whose name is Alassane Ouattara--we have demonstrated very clearly--won the election by fraudulent means.
The President of that country is Laurent Gbagbo. He has been President now for a number of years. His wife, Simone Gbagbo, has been a gracious and great First Lady.
What I wish to do--this is the seventh time I have been on the floor talking about this--is give you the latest on this grave situation in Cote d'Ivoire. I can only say it continues to be a targeted genocide against supporters and perceived supporters of the deposed President of Laurent Gbagbo.
This will be, as I said, my seventh time speaking about this on the floor.
The last time we talked about it was on April 4. When we first started talking about this, we were hoping we would be able to stop this, the State Department and others from going along with what is going on now in Cote d'Ivoire. I know it is complicated. A lot of people do not remember the genocide in Rwanda of 1994. Now we look back and say what a horrible event that was. Sure, it was horrible.
But right now what is going on in the streets of Abidjan in Cote d'Ivoire is something that has to be raised to the surface in front of the American people. I have new information that proves what I have been saying for the last 7 weeks, that the rebel leader Alassane Ouattara is still carrying out death squads, killing people in the streets of Abidjan in Cote d'Ivoire. There they are. That is a death squad. These are the people who are murdering and torturing people in Abidjan as we speak.
I bet there are not a handful of people who even know where Abidjan is. But this is the city, the capital of Cote d'Ivoire, a beautiful country. These people, coming in from the north, under this Alassane Ouattara, are in there today. I do not know how many hundreds of people they are murdering just today, but they are doing it and they are torturing and they are raping.
Before I tell you the most recent information that came out from Human Rights Watch, I wish to remind you of what I said back on the May 27. That was when Amnesty International reported that a manhunt--I am quoting now from Amnesty International--they reported that ``a manhunt''--what I said right here from this podium. ``A manhunt was launched against Gbagbo loyalists in Abidjan and several senior officials close to him were beaten in the hours after his arrest.''
That was 2 weeks ago. I am further quoting now from Amnesty International. ``In the west of the country, thousands of people who fled their homes are still living in the forest, too frightened to return.''
Look at this. There are the burned, charred bodies of people who have been tortured to death. This just happened. This is going on today, right now. Here is a man who was severely beaten. He died right after that. Here is a small child who was put to death in the same way. Here they are in the middle of executions. That is going on right now.
Gaetan Mootoo, who is Amnesty International's west Africa researcher, said:
Human rights violations are still being committed against real or perceived supporters of Laurent Gbagbo. Alassane Ouattara's failure to condemn these acts can be seen as a green light by many of his security forces, and other armed elements fighting with them, to continue. Ouattara must publicly state that all violence against the civilian population must stop immediately.
That is what the mandate was 2 weeks ago. That is what they were supposed to do 2 weeks ago. They went on to say from Amnesty International:
Attacks against villages inhabited by people belonging to ethnic groups considered supporters of Gbagbo--
The legitimate President--
continued in the first weeks of May. ..... Between 6 and 8 May several villages were burned and dozens killed. Ouattara's republican forces justified these acts by saying they were looking for arms and Liberian mercenaries.
They went on to describe this. There is an article in Guardian magazine that talked about this. This, again, was a little over 2 weeks ago. They said ``an Amnesty delegation spent 2 months in Ivory Coast, gathering more than 100 witness statements from people who survived the massacre in Duekoue. ..... ''
That is what this actually is in that small town of Duekoue and the neighboring villages on March 29.
All the statements indicated a systematic and targeted series of killings committed by the uniformed republican forces [loyal to Ouattara], who executed hundreds of men on political and ethnic grounds.
Before killing them, they asked their victims to give their names, show identity cards. ..... Some of these cards were found beside the bodies.
A woman who lived in Duekoue told researchers: ``They came into the yards and chased the women. Then they told the men to line up and asked them to state their first and second names and show their identity cards. They then executed them. I was present--
Quoting a woman who was watching her husband--
while they sorted out the men. Three young men, one of whom was about 15, were shot to death in front of me.''
Amnesty's report also accuses the UN mission, which has a base less than a mile from Duekoue, of fatal inertia.
``Fatal inertia,'' means they did nothing. They let this go on. We are talking about the United Nations.
People around here--there are a lot of liberals in this body who do not think that anything is worthwhile unless it comes from some big body such as the United Nations. That is what is happening right now. So I wish to go ahead--I know there is someone else on the floor who wants to speak, but I just want to be sure we are informed that what was going on then--what I talked about 2 weeks ago--is still happening today.
What happened today? The newly released report by Human Rights Watch states--this is a different group from Amnesty International and this came out today:
Armed forces loyal to President Alassane Ouattara have killed at least 149 real or perceived supporters of the former President Laurent Gbagbo since taking control of the commercial capital of Abidjan in mid-April, 2011.
The report goes on to describe the gruesome details, barbaric episodes of torture and the deaths at the hands of the Ouattara forces. This is happening today--right now. Here are a few examples. This is from Human Rights Watch.
Ouattara's Forces ..... sealed off and searched areas formerly controlled by pro-Gbagbo militia ..... and the majority of documented abuses occurred in the longtime pro-Gbagbo stronghold of Yopougon.
That is the town in that stronghold in the south part of the--you have to keep in mind Ouattara's forces came from the Muslim area up north.
Most killings were point-blank executions--
You are seeing a point-blank execution. That is what it looks like right there, the gun to the head.
Most killings were point-blank executions of youth from ethnic groups generally aligned with Gbagbo, in what appeared to be collective punishment for these groups' participation in Gbagbo's militias.
One man described how Republican Forces soldiers killed his 21-year-old brother: ``Two of them grabbed his legs, another two held his arms behind him, and a fifth one held his head,'' he said. ``Then a guy pulled out a knife and slit my brother's throat. He was screaming. I saw his legs shaking after they'd slit his throat, the blood streaming down. As they were doing it, they said they had to eliminate all of the [Young] Patriots that had caused all the problems in the country.''
During the raid in Abidjan, the forces, the UN forces, the French and Ouattara, they went in--and it happens that the seated President, President Gbagbo, had not a lot of armaments, but he had a whole lot of young people. They were armed not with weapons but with baseball bats, with wooden clubs, and they surrounded the palace to try to protect him, knowing they would kill their President. This is where they are today. These are the young kids. That is in a gas station up here. They are all lined up there. They are executing some of them, starving, beating the rest of them. But look at that. There are the pictures of what is going on.
These young patriots were young supporters to President Gbagbo, who surrounded his palace in a human chain, armed with just sticks and bats against the UN and French attack helicopters, which were bombing Gbagbo's residence, now being searched out by Ouattara's forces for torture and death.
The report goes on. This report came out today.
Another woman who witnessed the killing of 18 youths ..... was brutally raped by a Republican Forces soldier after being forced to load their vehicles with pillaged goods. On May 23, an elderly man in the same neighborhood saw Republican Forces execute his son, whom they accused of being a member of the pro-Gbagbo militia.
Another witness described seeing the Republican Forces slit the throat of a youth in front of his father after finding an AK-47 and grenade in his bedroom during a 4 a.m. house-to-house search. The witness was stripped and forced to hand over his laptop computer, cell phones, and money.
And was murdered.
Human Rights Watch documented similar pillaging of scores of houses in Abidjan.
By the way, I personally talked to these people in Abidjan who witnessed this going on.
The witness, like many others interviewed by Human Rights Watch, wanted to flee Abidjan to his family village, but had no money for transportation since the Republican Forces had taken everything.
Human Rights Watch says it documented 54 extrajudicial executions at detention sites, including police stations and the GESCO oil--
That is the station we just now saw. Those were the executions of the young kids taking place.
In addition to the killings--
I am reading now--
Human Rights Watch interviewed young men who had been detained by the Republican Forces ..... and arrested for no other apparent reason than their age and ethnic group. Nearly every former detainee described being struck repeatedly with guns, belts, rope, and fists ..... for alleged participation in the Young Patriots.
Those were the young people surrounding the palace.
Several described torture, including forcibly removing teeth from one victim and placing a burning hot knife on another victim, then cutting him.
Human Rights Watch reports ``witnesses consistently identified the killers and abusers as the Republican Forces'' of Ouattara, and they were ``overseen'' by Ouattara and Soros. Soros is a general of Ouattara. He is the one who is responsible for going into Duekoue. That is where they murdered all the people. The Soros they speak of is the one who was responsible for that under the supervision and direction of Ouattara.
So the Human Rights Report calls on Ouattara ``to immediately ensure the humane treatment of anyone detained'' by his forces. This is something I have been demanding for 7 weeks. I hope now this report is going to draw attention so at least the State Department knows what is going on
because our State Department is going along with all of this. They had an opportunity to voice their opinions and come up with a solution. The solution is to offer amnesty or to send him to a country where he will be able to live.
I have been very critical of the State Department's handling of the situation in Cote d'Ivoire. I sent them evidence months ago that showed Alassane Ouattara engaged in massive election fraud during last year's Presidential election. I called for an election and then a new election. Of course, it was met with deaf ears. I called on the State Department to inquire as to the health and safety of President Gbagbo and his wife Simone. To date, we have heard nothing.
Last year, I urged the State Department to use its power and influence and allow the reconciliation process in Cote d'Ivoire by allowing Gbagbo to go into exile. I pointed out that at least half of the population of Cote d'Ivoire supports Gbagbo. I acknowledged one African leader who is willing to accept Gbagbo in his country--a Sub-Saharan African country. The State Department has been aware of this for over a month.
I strongly suggest that is a solution. It has been done before. It was done in Haiti with ``Baby Doc'' Duvalier. I know people are tired of hearing me talk about Cote d'Ivoire.
I had a pleasant experience yesterday. I met the nominee for the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, Bill Burns. I had a chance to visit with him about this and other problems. I found him to be very receptive. I am convinced he embodies the high traditions of the foreign service--selfless, nonpartisan diplomatic service. He indicated to me he will follow through with my requests of the State Department regarding the health and well-being of the Gbagbos. I appreciate that.
I will finish by letting you see a photo of the two Gbagbos. Here is the President, Laurent Gbagbo, who I believe should be the legitimate President of Cote d'Ivoire. The first photo was a happy guy I knew. This next photo was him right after they took him. This side of his face is bashed in. His wife is a beautiful lady, Simone. Here is a picture of her. I have known her for over 15 years. She is a gracious lady and everybody loves her. After Alassane Ouattara took her, here is what she looked like. They ripped her hair out by the roots and went dancing up and down the streets of Abidjan with the hair. You have to use your imagination.
This is what is going on today in Cote d'Ivoire. There they are, the death squad, and there is the First Lady, Simone.
The last thing is that I hope somebody in the State Department cares enough to intervene and allow that party to go into exile. There is already an operation for that. Almost every President of every African country who called me is in agreement to what we are trying to do.
I yield the floor.
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