November 19, 1999
Ivory Coast Threatens To Erupt
Filed at 3:45 a.m. EST
By The Associated Press
ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (AP) -- Ousmane Ouedraogo is a foreigner inhis own land.
Although born and raised in the Ivory Coast, authorities haverefused to give Ouedraogo the citizenship documents necessary tovote. He says that even while crossing the street he has facedpolice harassment.
The reason: Ouedraogo's father was a foreigner.
Ivory Coast has long been a model of West African stability thatopened its doors to migrant workers and war refugees fromneighboring states, but the country is no longer the multiculturalparadise it once seemed.
``When people's fundamental rights are crushed by the state,those same people cannot be expected to be loyal,'' said Ouedraogo,a messenger in the commercial capital, Abidjan. ``I am not aviolent person but I can understand how some have become thatway.''
Political unrest with an undercurrent of ethnic hatred isbubbling through this cocoa- and coffee-rich tropical country of 19million people in the buildup to presidential elections in October2000.
Rioting is on the rise, and opposition party leaders have beenimprisoned.
The opposition Rally of the Republicans (RDR) accuses PresidentHenri Konan Bedie's government of polarizing the country with anationalist identity campaign called ``Ivoirite.'' Many potentialopposition supporters -- mainly descendants of immigrants likeOuadreogo and members of disaffected tribes from the savanna north-- have allegedly been denied voting and other rights under newcitizenship laws.
Angry youths armed with little more than slingshots and gas canshave lashed back since August with violent attacks in Abidjan andother cities, targeting buses, telephone offices and practicallyanything else owned by the government.
A high court on Nov. 11 convicted 17 RDR leaders of fomentingviolence that broke out in October during a banned demonstration.Party leader Alassane Dramane Ouattara was earlier charged withforging his identity documents.
Ouattara, a former International Monetary Fund official who hasnot returned from a trip to France since his deputies were arrestedlast month, insists the charge is a sham contrived to prevent himfrom running for president.
``We will not be intimidated just because some of our leadershave been imprisoned,'' said the RDR's acting secretary-general,Frederic Guede-Guina. ``We stand by our principles and will not beswayed.''
The party insists Ouattara will return to Ivory Coast to competein a presidential campaign against Bedie, despite the possibilityhe too may be arrested.
The government insists it is merely maintaining the rule of lawand says it bears no grudge against any opposition party or anysector of its population.
Officials also accuse the international press of distortingIvory Coast's problems.
``Even France has strikes nearly every day. But when boys burn afew tires in Ivory Coast it makes headlines,'' said Laurent DonoFologo, secretary-general of the ruling party, during a dinnerhosted earlier this month seeking more positive coverage fromforeign journalists.
Some observers fear the government's hard line against theopposition will escalate the crisis. The U.S. State Department hascalled for the jailed politicians to be released and has expressedconcern about efforts by Ivory Coast's government that appear aimedat stifling dissent.
The latest crisis follows years of increasing tensions and comesamid an economic downturn brought on by a collapse in the worldprice of cocoa -- the country's most lucrative export -- to aseven-year low last week.
Student and civil servant strikes in recent years highlightgrowing dissatisfaction about salaries, living conditions andgovernment corruption. In June, the European Union alleged thatmillions of dollars in aid money had been misused.
Any further increase in violence in Ivory Coast could spelldisaster for the region. The country has long been a stabilizinginfluence on its neighbors Liberia and Sierra Leone. Until Bedie'srule began in 1993, Ivory Coast accepted millions of destituteimmigrants to work as laborers during a period of economicexpansion under the widely-revered late President FelixHouphouet-Boigny.
In recent years, however, Ivorians have felt overwhelmed byimmigrants making up an estimated half of the total population.Some communities have begun forcing immigrants -- includingthousands of farmers and fishermen from Burkina Faso, Ghana andMali -- to return home.
Ouedraogo -- whose father is from Burkina Faso but whose motherwas Ivorian -- traveled to his father's homeland for the first timein 1996 to obtain a residency permit, just in case.
``I don't know that place,'' Ouedraogo. ``Burkina Faso is not myhome. But I have no rights here in Ivory Coast either.''