By Justice Hub
“Human Rights Watch should leave us alone”, wrote Issa Ouattara, a Facebook follower of our sister site, Ivoire Justice. “It’s really sad that an organisation which claims to be in favour of human rights could try to harm a nation. Where was HRW when the crisis occurred? Who was right and who wasn’t? …We really want to move forward.”
He and hundreds of other Ivoire Justice Facebook followers were reacting to two articles about the International Criminal Court’s “missteps” in Ivory Coast. The articles were based on a report published by Human Rights Watch, alleging that the ICC had “missed important opportunities to maximize the impact of its work in Ivory Coast”. According to HRW, “the prosecution’s decision to limit its initial investigations to one side of the country’s 2010-2011 election was a misstep”.
In an 88-page report, the human rights watchdog wrote that the prosecution should have opened investigations not only into crimes allegedly committed by forces allied with former president Laurent Gbagbo, but also those reportedly committed by forces allied with the current president, Alassane Ouattara.
“Both sides committed atrocities. So for the ICC’s credibility, everyone who was responsible for the crisis should be put on trial. Let justice be done once and for all.”
“As far as I’m concerned, the ICC (Court of Insufficient Evidence) is a “thing” in the pay of Western countries. Nothing more. It’s time that Africa establishes its own court.”
“Instead of debating things from the past…let’s try to build tomorrow’s future because our children and the generations to come are the heart of our country. No one wants to grow up with the ideology of a divided nation by its politicians, but rather in unity, peace, living together…to build a strong and emerging nation because we were all victims…”
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