U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE

WASHINGTON : 

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office

Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800

Fax: (202) 512–2104 Mail: Stop IDCC, Washington, DC 20402–0001

65–794PDF 2011

CRISIS IN COTE D’IVOIRE: IMPLICATIONS FOR

THE COUNTRY AND REGION

HEARING

BEFORE THE

SUBCOMMITTEE ON AFRICA, GLOBAL HEALTH, 

AND HUMAN RIGHTS

OF THE

COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

ONE HUNDRED TWELFTH CONGRESS

FIRST SESSION

APRIL 13, 2011

Serial No. 112–57

Printed for the use of the Committee on Foreign Affairs

(

Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.foreignaffairs.house.gov/

(II)

COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS 

ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida, Chairman 

CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey 

DAN BURTON, Indiana 

ELTON GALLEGLY, California 

DANA ROHRABACHER, California 

DONALD A. MANZULLO, Illinois 

EDWARD R. ROYCE, California 

STEVE CHABOT, Ohio 

RON PAUL, Texas 

MIKE PENCE, Indiana 

JOE WILSON, South Carolina 

CONNIE MACK, Florida 

JEFF FORTENBERRY, Nebraska 

MICHAEL T. MCCAUL, Texas 

TED POE, Texas 

GUS M. BILIRAKIS, Florida 

JEAN SCHMIDT, Ohio 

BILL JOHNSON, Ohio 

DAVID RIVERA, Florida 

MIKE KELLY, Pennsylvania 

TIM GRIFFIN, Arkansas 

TOM MARINO, Pennsylvania 

JEFF DUNCAN, South Carolina 

ANN MARIE BUERKLE, New York 

RENEE ELLMERS, North Carolina 

VACANT 

HOWARD L. BERMAN, California 

GARY L. ACKERMAN, New York 

ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA, American 

Samoa 

DONALD M. PAYNE, New Jersey 

BRAD SHERMAN, California 

ELIOT L. ENGEL, New York 

GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York 

RUSS CARNAHAN, Missouri 

ALBIO SIRES, New Jersey 

GERALD E. CONNOLLY, Virginia 

THEODORE E. DEUTCH, Florida 

DENNIS CARDOZA, California 

BEN CHANDLER, Kentucky 

BRIAN HIGGINS, New York 

ALLYSON SCHWARTZ, Pennsylvania 

CHRISTOPHER S. MURPHY, Connecticut 

FREDERICA WILSON, Florida 

KAREN BASS, California 

WILLIAM KEATING, Massachusetts 

DAVID CICILLINE, Rhode Island 

YLEEM D.S. POBLETE, Staff Director 

RICHARD J. KESSLER, Democratic Staff Director 

SUBCOMMITTEE ON AFRICA, GLOBAL HEALTH, AND HUMAN RIGHTS

CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey, Chairman 

JEFF FORTENBERRY, Nebraska 

TIM GRIFFIN, Arkansas 

TOM MARINO, Pennsylvania 

ANN MARIE BUERKLE, New York 

DONALD M. PAYNE, New Jersey 

KAREN BASS, California 

RUSS CARNAHAN, Missouri 

(III)

C O N T E N T S 

Page

WITNESS 

Mr. William Fitzgerald, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of African Affairs, U.S. Department of State .......................................................................... 6

LETTERS, STATEMENTS, ETC., SUBMITTED FOR THE HEARING 

Mr. William Fitzgerald: Prepared statement ........................................................ 9

APPENDIX 

Hearing notice .......................................................................................................... 26

Hearing minutes ...................................................................................................... 27

Mr. William Fitzgerald: Material submitted for the record ................................. 28

(1)

CRISIS IN COTE D’IVOIRE: IMPLICATIONS 

FOR THE COUNTRY AND REGION 

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13, 2011

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SUBCOMMITTEE ON AFRICA, GLOBAL HEALTH, AND HUMAN RIGHTS

COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS, Washington, DC. 

The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 9 o’clock a.m., in room 

2172 Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Christopher H. Smith 

(chairman of the subcommittee) presiding. 

Mr. SMITH. The subcommittee will come to order. And I would 

just note for the record that my friend and colleague, Mr. Payne, 

will be here in about 5 minutes. So just to expedite, we will begin. 

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Today’s hearing concerns 

the continuing tragedy in Cote d’Ivoire, where a repeatedly delayed 

Presidential election and a subsequent runoff election failed to end 

longstanding political and civil unrest in that West African nation. 

Despite the arrest of sitting President Laurent Gbagbo this week, 

there remain obstacles to the return of peace and prosperity to 

Cote d’Ivoire. 

Cote d’Ivoire has been one of the region’s most stable governments and an African economic powerhouse. In fact, even during 

the worst periods of civil war in this troubled country, Cote d’Ivoire 

remained one of America’s largest trading partners in Africa. Unfortunately, this nation has become a blight on its neighbors rather 

than the blessing it had been for so long. 

As many as 1 million Ivoirians have been driven from their 

homes by the fighting. Nearly 44,000 have fled to Liberia, more 

than 7,000 have fled to Ghana, as well as smaller numbers who 

have sought refuge in Burkina Faso, Benin, Togo, Nigeria, and 

Mali. 

If this conflict is not brought to an end soon, there will be even 

more Ivoirian refugees in neighboring countries despite the announcement of the border’s closing on March 31. Unfortunately, 

there is no certainty that the various armed factions will lay down 

their weapons and forego reprisals as quickly as we would hope. 

According to news reports last week, it was only a matter of days 

or hours before President Gbagbo resigned and accepted the internationally recognized election of President Ouattara. Like much in 

Cote d’Ivoire’s recent history, that expected development didn’t 

take place. The arrest this week was variously reported to have 

been at the hands of forces loyal to President Ouattara or the 

French military. Any lack of certainty will only add to the allegaVerDate 0ct 09 2002 11:16 Oct 04, 2011 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 F:\WORK\AGH\041311\65794 HFA PsN: SHIRL
2

tions of Gbagbo and his supporters that foreign forces overthrew an 

African government. 

Ouattara has exercised executive power for the last 3 years of 

the life of founding President Felix Houphouet-Boigny, but when he 

died in 1993, the President of the National Assembly was named 

his successor. From that point forward, stability has been a thing 

of the past in Cote d’Ivoire. 

Bedie was elected in 1995 in a controversial balloting. He was 

subsequently overthrown and exiled in 1999 by Robert Guie, who 

was himself unseated and forced to flee after a popular uprising because of suspicions of a tainted election in 2000. 

Laurent Gbagbo was believed to have been the rightful winner 

of the 2000 elections, was declared President, but his presidency 

was troubled by coup attempts and growing violence between 

Christian southerners and Muslim northerners. A 2002 military 

mutiny in the capital city of Abidjan grew into a full-scale rebellion, with rebels seizing much of the north of the country. 

Beginning in 2003, cease fires were agreed to and then broken. 

Elections, beginning in 2005, were repeatedly postponed. The 2010 

elections were hoped to be the solution to the enduring human 

rights tragedy in Cote d’Ivoire. Like so many other expectations before it, however, this resolution was not to occur. 

Meanwhile, human rights violations against Ivoirians under the 

Gbagbo regime were rampant—from extra-judicial killings to torture to forced disappearances to rape. On March 30, more than 800 

Ivoirians were massacred in the town of Duekoue when proOuattara forces captured it. The incoming President disavowed responsibility of his forces in the massacre and promised a full investigation. 

Throughout the months since the runoff election last fall, Gbagbo 

used his leverage shrewdly to hold onto power and cast doubt on 

an internationally supervised process to which he had agreed. According to the international accord, the Ivoirian election commission would certify a winner that the international community 

would then accept. However, the Constitutional Council appointed 

by President Gbagbo declared the election unacceptably tainted. 

During the months of wrangling over the election outcome, 

Gbagbo played on nationalist sentiment, raising concerns of French 

influence on the certification of the voting. He has repeatedly emphasized that the United Nations had no right to declare a winner 

of the elections in a sovereign nation, although he had agreed to 

such a process beforehand. 

Even as his military’s Air Force and heavy weaponry were stymied by U.N. and French forces, and rebels surrounded his last 

stand in a presidential bunker, he knew that if he were killed or 

resigned without an undisputed elected successor, the Constitution 

called for the Speaker of the National Assembly to become President. 

For months, Gbagbo withstood international condemnation, especially by the Economic Community of West African States, which 

at one point threatened military action that never materialized. He 

had supporters among the African Union early on who delayed that 

body’s full acceptance of the 2010 election outcome. 

3

Increasing African concerns of French and other international 

military interventions could be problematic in resolving the crisis 

among some in Africa and elsewhere who may now buy into 

Gbagbo’s conspiracy theories of foreign interference in Cote 

d’Ivoire. 

Above all, we must remember that President Ouattara has always been considered an international figure, even when he was 

brought in as Prime Minister to bolster the ailing economy in 1990. 

The north-south dispute in Cote d’Ivoire partly concerns his repeated exclusion from Presidential elections and allegations that he 

was a foreigner. The treatment of Ouattara was seen as symbolic 

of the mistreatment of northerners and Muslims in Cote d’Ivoire. 

Resentments on both sides of the regional-religious divide in the 

country will not disappear overnight. 

This hearing is intended to discuss the Obama administration’s 

assessment of the complicated situation we now face in Cote 

d’Ivoire, to examine strategies to unravel this mess, and to look forward to how this former bulwark of West Africa can be restored to 

its former place of prominence in the region as well as on the continent. 

Given our current military involvements in the Middle East and 

North Africa, diplomacy seems to be the preferred method of American intervention, but what role does the United States play in the 

situation thus far dominated by the United Nations and by France? 

Given our economic ties to Cote d’Ivoire, we are not casual bystanders in this matter, but how can we best play the role of peacemaker and assist in the lasting reconstruction of one of Africa’s 

most important countries? Furthermore, how can we intervene 

without seeming to be yet another foreign power trying to thwart 

the will of the people of Cote d’Ivoire? 

This is the challenge being taken up this morning by our distinguished witness, William Fitzgerald, Deputy Assistant Secretary of 

State in the Bureau of African Affairs. And we are very grateful 

to be joined by him today. 

And I would like to now yield to my good friend and colleague, 

Mr. Payne, for his opening statement. 

Mr. PAYNE. Thank you very much. Thank you, Chairman Smith, 

for discussing this very important hearing. And thank you for delaying it for 5 minutes or so as I fought traffic. But this is a very 

important hearing. As we all know, Cote d’Ivoire, one of the leaders 

in Africa as a nation, a nation that had very strong economic prowess, a nation that drew all neighboring countries unto them to have 

economic opportunity, and then we see the demise that we have 

seen over the past 4 months. 

As you know, I have focused on elections and democratic process 

across the African continent, and it is very significant as a priority 

because, in particular this year, there will be 15 additional elections in very important countries—Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo, and on. 

And so it is important that a model is set, so that the others 

would have something to follow. So this has been very disturbing, 

because this is a very poor example for the elections that will be 

unfolding in Africa, and we must not allow this to be the pattern. 

4

As you know, President Obama and Secretary Clinton have asserted time and time again that the United States must support 

the democratic aspirations of all people. 

The situation in Cote d’Ivoire is extremely troubling and disappointing. Laurent Gbagbo, a former democratic activist, who was 

once seen by many as the father of the Ivoirian democracy, was 

soundly defeated at the polls last November. He was such an advocate in the previous time that he was imprisoned by the former 

President, and so people had much faith when he was elected to 

President before. 

But after the polls closed, and showed that he was defeated 

soundly, he refused to cede power to Alassane Ouattara, whom the 

United Nations certified as the legitimate new President, and his 

actions plunged the once economically vibrant and beautiful country into complete disarray. There was unanimity around the world. 

The African Union certified that Mr. Ouattara won. 

ECOWAS joined in. IGAD from the other side of the continent 

on the east part of Africa said the same thing, the EU confirmed 

it, and so did the U.S. And so there was total accord that Ouattara 

was the winner. 

The political crisis erupted into a full-scale civil war and humanitarian crisis, which will likely have a lasting impact. The post-election violence has resulted in over 1,500 deaths, the vast majority 

of whom were citizens in addition to close to 1 million displaced 

people, and 1,000 who remain trapped in their homes without access to water, food, and medical care. 

UNHCR estimates that 150,000 refugees are spread across 12 

countries in West Africa, with 135,000 refugees in Liberia—Liberia, 

a country that is struggling coming out of the long civil war, but 

once again has to take in refugees from their neighboring country. 

As in most African countries, refugees are welcomed and are cared 

for to the best of the ability of those countries. 

Concerns about increased violence by forces loyal to both sides 

prompted the U.N. Security Council to adopt Resolution 1975 on 

March 30, demanding an immediate cease fire and calling on 

Gbagbo to leave office and cede power to Ouattara. In addition, a 

resolution urged the U.N. to use all necessary means to protect the 

citizens and to call upon the U.N. Human Rights Council to investigate human rights violations. The resolution also included targeted sanctions against Gbagbo, his wife, and key associates. 

During the last days of March, supporters of Ouattara took control of strategic positions, entered the country’s largest city, 

Abidjan, captured the capital city, and closed the international borders to prevent Gbagbo and his affiliates from fleeing the country. 

Also, at that time, an estimated 244 people were reportedly 

killed in the western Ivoirian country of Duekoue. According to 

U.N. High Commission for Human Rights, the area is ethnically diverse, has a history of cross-border military activity, and has been 

the site of inter-communal violence at several junctures in the 

Ivoirian conflict. 

The killing occurred shortly after pro-Ouattara forces captured 

the city. Ouattara has rejected allegations that his forces were responsible for the killings, and he has pledged to launch an investigation and welcomed an independent international inquiry, and 

5

that is a positive first step. At least 100 more bodies were found 

by U.N. investigators in two western towns of the country said to 

have been killed by ethnic militias. 

Last week, U.N. and French helicopters attacked weapons depots 

in Abidjan to prevent forces loyal to Mr. Gbagbo from targeting civilians. This week, forces loyal to President Ouattara arrested Mr. 

Gbagbo at his residence in Abidjan. Although Gbagbo has been apprehended, the violence continues. 

In the coming days and weeks, Ouattara will face a number of 

stark challenges, including a deeply divided population, a military 

regime, and allied militias that have fought to keep him from 

power in a once-vibrant economy ruined by years of conflict, mismanagement, and international isolation. It is uncertain how much 

command and control Ouattara may have over the rebel movement 

that claims to be fighting on his behalf as evidenced by the massacre in Duekoue. 

The conflict will have long-term consequences on the stability of 

the country. Reconciliation and due political process should be reinstalled. Accountability and justice for all perpetrators of the heinous post-election violence must be a priority. President Ouattara 

must make good on his pledge by moving swiftly to ensure independent and impartial investigation of all allegations of mass 

killings and other human rights abuses. Such investigations cannot 

be perceived as biased, and justice and accountability must be 

upheld on both sides of the conflict. 

Indeed, Ouattara has an enormous challenge on his hands. Now 

it is time to commence national reconciliation efforts, invest and rebuild in infrastructure, facilities, and institutions damaged as a result of the military and political crisis, to ensure the safety of all 

persons resident within Cote d’Ivoire, and to facilitate the safe and 

voluntary return of refugees and internally displaced people. 

The United States and the international community must stand 

by the people of Cote d’Ivoire every step of the way. 

Once again, Mr. Chairman, I yield back and appreciate the hearing today, and yield back the balance of my time. 

Mr. SMITH. Thank you very much, Mr. Payne. 

Mr. Carnahan. 

Mr. CARNAHAN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Appreciate you and 

the ranking member calling this hearing. It is very timely and important as we assess options for a meaningful way forward for a 

country and a region that possess enormous economic potential. 

Since last November’s Presidential election, we have seen a deterioration into a post-election crisis that has spiraled into violent 

conflict, with an untold number of civilians wounded, raped, and 

killed, and more than 1,000,000 internally displaced persons and 

over 100,000 refugees escaping into neighboring countries. 

This past Monday, after 4 months Gbagbo was captured, allowing Ouattara to rightfully take his place as President-elect. 

I hope to hear in depth today about the role international organizations have played in the crisis. I also look forward to discussing 

how the U.N. mission supports U.S. interest in the region moving 

forward, how the U.S. can work with the U.N., France, and other 

international partners to promote reconciliation and stable progress 

for Cote d’Ivoire. 

6

Deputy Assistant Secretary Fitzgerald, thank you for being here 

today. I hope that you can shine some light on the pathways to stability and peace. Welcome, and we look forward to hearing your 

testimony. 

Mr. SMITH. Mr. Carnahan, thank you very much. 

I would like to now welcome and introduce William Fitzgerald, 

who serves as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau 

of African Affairs, overseeing policy and operations at all U.S. missions in West Africa, and the work of the Bureau’s Economic Policy 

Office. 

From 2006 to 2009, Mr. Fitzgerald served as a Deputy Assistant 

Secretary in the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration. 

His regional portfolio included Afghanistan, Pakistan, sub-Saharan 

Africa, Central Asia, and Latin America. 

Prior to joining PRM, from 2003 to 2006, Mr. Fitzgerald was 

Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Kampala, Uganda. 

In his final year, he served as Charge ́ during the controversial 

2006 elections. A 22-year veteran of the Foreign Service, Mr. Fitzgerald has served at other African posts, including Togo, Mali, and 

Zambia, as well as tours in Mexico and Ecuador. He also worked 

in the Bureau of Political Military Affairs in Washington. 

Before he joined the Foreign Service in 1988, Mr. Fitzgerald 

worked as a reporter and editor for United Press International and 

the Paris-based Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development. He is a graduate of the University of Chicago. 

Mr. Fitzgerald, welcome, and proceed as you would like. 

STATEMENT OF MR. WILLIAM FITZGERALD, DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY, BUREAU OF AFRICAN AFFAIRS, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE 

Mr. FITZGERALD. Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member Payne, and 

Congressman Carnahan, thank you for this opportunity to testify 

before you today on Cote d’Ivoire. Cote d’Ivoire is an important 

country in sub-Saharan Africa and one of great significance to the 

United States. 

First, let me express our concern for the very real human tragedy 

that has befallen the Ivoirian people as a result of the political crisis. The road to democratic elections was a long and turbulent one, 

and the Ivoirian people deserve to have their voices heard and respected by a government that is responsive to their needs. 

The Fall 2010 Presidential elections were the culmination of 

nearly 10 years of international community engagement to broker 

lasting peace in Cote d’Ivoire. Following controversial elections in 

2000, and a civil war that divided the country, then-President 

Laurent Gbagbo and opposition leader Alassane Ouattara helped 

craft the electoral process through a series of negotiated agreements beginning in 2005. 

These agreements specified that the United Nations provide 

technical assistance to support elections, deploy observers around 

the country, and certify each stage of the electoral process. We 

have supported the United Nations’ presence in Cote d’Ivoire since 

2003, including its current incarnation as the U.N. Operation in 

Cote d’Ivoire (UNOCI), as well as the French military force 

7

(Licorne), which is mandated to assist UNOCI’s work under Security Council Resolution 1528 in 2004. 

After several years of delay, the first round of elections on October 31 last year was held by all candidates and observers as peaceful and fair, with nearly 80 percent voter turnout and no significant irregularities reported. However, indeed, the November 28 

runoff between Alassane Ouattara and Laurent Gbagbo was again 

characterized by high voter turnout, and largely peaceful participation by the Ivoirian people. 

Credible, accredited observers assessed that both rounds were 

free and fair and free of irregularities that would have affected the 

results. As a part of his mandate to certify each step of the electoral process, the U.N. Special Representative of the Secretary 

General (SRSG), Y.J. Choi, received duplicate identical copies of 

20,073 tally sheets, which the Independent Electoral Commission 

and the Constitutional Council used to determine the results. 

After reviewing these tally sheets, SRSG Choi certified the finding of the Independent Electoral Commission that Alassane 

Ouattara had won the second round with 54 percent of the vote. 

However, the Constitutional Council, a body composed of Gbagbo 

appointees, nullified the totality of the results in several specific 

districts which Ouattara had carried, handing Gbagbo a victory by 

a margin of 51 percent. 

International observers, including the Carter Center, with former 

President of Ghana John Kufuor leading their delegation, the African Union, the Economic Community of West African States 

(ECOWAS), and the United Nations were unified in their acceptance of President Ouattara’s victory. 

The international consensus in support of a well-organized democratic process was critical in preventing a return to full-scale civil 

war in Cote d’Ivoire, as well as preserving Africa’s democratic momentum as other countries, such as Nigeria and the Democratic 

Republic of Congo, which hold national elections this year. Despite 

this consensus, however, Laurent Gbagbo refused to concede defeat 

and began re-arming and reaching out to his militias to intimidate 

and attack communities that supported President Ouattara. 

From the onset of the crisis, the United States worked closely 

with ECOWAS, the African Union, and the United Nations to find 

a peaceful resolution, using diplomatic and political tools to push 

for an outcome that respected the will of the Ivoirian people. 

However, Mr. Gbagbo’s tactics became increasingly violent as the 

crisis drew on. As fighting increased between the two camps, there 

have been reports of human rights abuses committed by combatants on both sides. Following Gbagbo’s use of heavy weapons 

against unarmed civilians, the U.N. Security Council called for the 

UNOCI and French military force Licorne to act under their mandates and to take all necessary measures to protect civilians under 

threat, including by neutralizing the heavy weapons in and around 

Abidjan. 

These operations were critical in preventing a further escalation 

of violence in Abidjan. On Monday, as you mentioned, April 11, 

President Ouattara’s Republican Forces took Gbagbo, his wife, and 

his entourage into custody. 

8

The hard work is just beginning in Cote d’Ivoire, and President 

Ouattara must now begin implementing his reconciliation plan in 

earnest. President Ouattara has outlined his intent to be President 

of all Ivoirians, and is committed to a broad and comprehensive 

reconciliation effort to build lasting peace. This must include accountability on all sides for atrocities and human rights violations 

committed since the November elections. 

We commend President Ouattara’s calls for independent investigations into alleged human rights abuses and violations, and the 

United States recently co-sponsored a resolution at the U.N. 

Human Rights Council in Geneva that has created a Commission 

of Inquiry to investigate these allegations. 

Accountability and a meaningful reconciliation process are essential not only for Cote d’Ivoire’s future, but for regional stability in 

the wake of the Ivoirian crisis. With more than 100,000 Ivoirian 

refugees in Liberia and other neighboring countries, President 

Ouattara must create a stable and peaceful environment to allow 

them to return. 

The more than 1,000,000 internally displaced Ivoirians must be 

able to return to their homes and to their lives. The United States 

is currently providing $31.7 million to address the growing humanitarian crisis in Cote d’Ivoire and the affected communities in Liberia and neighboring countries. 

We are committed to working with President Ouattara and the 

Ivoirian people to help reestablish Cote d’Ivoire as the beacon of 

stability and economic prosperity it once was. A prosperous and 

peaceful Cote d’Ivoire is an asset to the region and the continent, 

and we look forward to playing a part in the hopeful future that 

lies ahead. 

Thank you again, members of the committee, for the opportunity 

to speak today, and I welcome any questions that you may have. 

Thank you very much. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Fitzgerald follows:]

9


65794a-1.eps
10


65794a-2.eps
11

Mr. SMITH. Thank you very much, Mr. Fitzgerald, for your testimony and for your leadership. 

Let me just ask a few opening questions. First, International 

Criminal Court proceedings have been discussed for Mr. Gbagbo 

since his arrest. But given the deep divisions in Cote d’Ivoire, in 

your opinion, would it be advisable to push for a trial in a foreign 

court? Might that not exacerbate tensions there? And what is the 

administration’s view of an ICC trial? 

Mr. FITZGERALD. Well, at this point, to be perfectly honest with 

you, President Ouattara has said that he is investigating with his 

Justice Minister and his Minister of Human Rights the allegations 

against Mr. Gbagbo, and may in fact try him in Ivoirian court. 

These discussions continue. 

Yes, it is true the ICC has begun an exploratory investigation 

into the allegations against Mr. Gbagbo and his government, as 

well as his military leaders. But it is not clear at this point precisely how they are going to do this. Conceivably he could send him 

to a foreign country pending the handing down of warrants. There 

is no guarantee that they will get indictments from the International Criminal Court. I think it is also an issue of timing, how 

quickly the ICC could hand down indictments. 

Obviously, trying Laurent Gbagbo in the country when Ouattara 

just won an election by only 54 to 46, a decisive victory but by no 

means a mandate, reflecting the split in the country—could prove 

difficult. 

Mr. SMITH. As you know, and as you indicated, the recent massacre of 800 or more Ivoirians in the town of Duekoue last month 

allegedly was perpetrated by rebels supporting President Ouattara, 

who has promised to investigate that horrible carnage. Is that the 

best way to go about this, or should an international investigation 

make this part of their mandate, as you I think alluded to with the 

United Nations? 

Mr. FITZGERALD. That is an excellent question. In fact, President 

Ouattara has spoken out publicly in a noon address, one of his first 

television addresses, to promote the reconciliation of people. 

He has agreed to allow an international commission, such as the 

Commission of Inquiry to investigate. I understand the leader of 

that commission has just been named. He is a well-known Thai jurist, who has a lot of experience. He was the Special Rapporteur 

in North Korea. I would give you his name, but I can’t pronounce 

it, to be honest with you. In any case, Ouattara is going to set up 

a national commission of investigation, but he is also allowing the 

U.N. to come in to investigate those crimes. 

There is no question that what happened at Duekoue was absolutely unacceptable. Human Rights Watch, did an excellent report 

on it. There are certainly credible allegations to the effect that 

Ouattara’s forces may have been involved. Of course, there are also 

allegations that Gbagbo’s forces as well out in the western part of 

the country have committed atrocities as well in other towns. 

Really what we need, and we continue to work with the U.N., is 

to stabilize that area. You are not going to have reconciliation if 

you have one part of the country that people are facing off, and 

frankly, intercommunal violence has been going on for years and 

years out there. We are not entirely sure precisely what happened 

12

and how it happened, and that is why we need the experts to go 

in on the ground and to investigate. 

Thank you. 

Mr. SMITH. Let me just ask you with regards to the north/south 

Christian/Muslim divide in Cote d’Ivoire, which, as we all know, 

has been growing more violent and entrenched since the early 

1990s. What are the prospects for healing that emotional and physical wound that has festered for so long? And have the churches 

and mosques sought to work together? I mean, we saw that in Nigeria when bishops and imams have met together, have even traveled here together. 

Mr. FITZGERALD. In the Plateau State and in Jos, absolutely. 

Mr. SMITH. Yes. 

Mr. FITZGERALD. I don’t want to overstate the divide that exists. 

Clearly, there is a physical divide now that should come down soon. 

But the rancor that purportedly exists between Christians and 

Muslims was something that I think Laurent Gbagbo sought to exploit as much as possible. In fact, there were a number of attacks 

on mosques within Abidjan, but churches weren’t touched. 

As far as the reconciliation, again, President Ouattara realizes 

that he needs to reunify this country, and to do that he is reaching 

out to all sides. He has already agreed early on in this crisis that 

he would accept members of former President Gbagbo’s party to be 

ministers in his cabinet, as well as ministers from former President 

Bedie’s party. 

But there is no question that political reconciliation is the top job 

for him right now. He has an enormous burden of issues to work 

on simultaneously. And if I have an opportunity, I can get into 

those a little bit later. But political reconciliation, including—to be 

as inclusive as possible. And to be perfectly honest with you, Mr. 

Chairman, he needs to jumpstart the economy; he needs to start 

producing good jobs for people, and that includes jobs for people up 

in the north as well as in the south. 

To date, he has delivered at least two television addresses where 

he has sought to promote this political reconciliation. And we do intend to work with him and the U.N. and other regional bodies—

AU and ECOWAS—to help him to again break down the barriers 

between north and south in Cote d’Ivoire. 

Than you. 

Mr. SMITH. As you know, since the military coup in 1999 ousted 

former President Henri Konan Bedie, Cote d’Ivoire has been subject to a U.S. restriction on bilateral aid that prohibits the use of 

certain foreign operation funds, with exceptions for selected democracy promotion, and, of course, humanitarian assistance. 

Is there a review underway, especially as things progress? You 

mentioned $31.7 million being——

Mr. FITZGERALD. Yes. 

Mr. SMITH [continuing]. Most recently allocated. Is there a need 

for Congress to look at some flexibility with regards to that restriction? 

Mr. FITZGERALD. Yes. They are under Section 508 restrictions 

and have been for almost 10 years, in fact a little bit more than 

10 years. We are proceeding with a review of all the bilateral assistance programs. PEPFAR was never stopped, and, in fact, along 

13

with Nigeria, Cote d’Ivoire is the only other West African nation 

that receives significant PEPFAR funds. This year I think it is on 

the order of about $125 million. 

Ironically, it is PEPFAR that has been able to break through the 

north-south divide, and our NGO partners and PVOs have been 

able to go up to the north and basically work on both sides of this 

dividing line. 

Yes, we do need to review all of the restrictions against Cote 

d’Ivoire. 

Mr. SMITH. If you could be in contact with our subcommittee as 

well, just as you go through that process. 

Mr. FITZGERALD. Thank you. 

Mr. SMITH. Let me ask just a couple of final questions. To what 

extent, and in what instances, have the U.N. peacekeepers prevented violence against civilians over the past 4 months? Has the 

administration considered evacuating U.S. citizens from Cote 

d’Ivoire? And, if so, you know, if you would explain that. 

And, finally, the U.S. has provided $81 million in FY09 and $140 

million in 2010 in assessed contributions toward the peacekeeping 

operations. Where do you think that might go in the coming 

months and year? 

Mr. FITZGERALD. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Yes, I do think that 

UNOCI played a critical role, in particular in the past few weeks 

in evacuating not only civilians from the line of fire but also a 

number of diplomatic Embassies and consulates that were basically 

located very close to the presidential residence where Gbagbo had 

holed up. His troops were outside frequently firing heavy weapons 

into the Embassies. 

There is no question that UNOCI played a critical role. Without 

UNOCI it would have been a very different story completely. As far 

as the next question, which I have forgotten, unfortunately——

Mr. SMITH. It was about the possible evacuation of U.S. citizens. 

Mr. FITZGERALD. Right. 

Mr. SMITH. And then, how much do you think——

Mr. FITZGERALD. Peacekeeping. 

Mr. SMITH [continuing]. May rise going forward. 

Mr. FITZGERALD. The evacuation of American citizens, we explored it. At the beginning of the crisis, there were approximately 

1,000 to 1,500 U.S. citizens. By far the large majority of those were 

the dual national children of Ivoirian parents. 

If there was a good thing about this crisis, it is that the violence 

began in earnest in the past month, I would say, maybe a little bit 

longer than that. So people had an idea early on, and our Embassy 

was very, very proactive in issuing travel warnings, and really this 

is the time to get out. The commercial flights are still flying. This 

is an easy way. Just take the time off. 

And I know a great number of religious organizations, missionaries who had worked there for years and years, took advantage of 

that to take their annual leave, their holidays around Christmastime and haven’t returned. I believe they are starting to now. We 

have evacuated and drawn down our staff at the American Embassy. In fact, on Saturday during a lull in the violence we were 

able, with the help of the French, to evacuate 10 additional people 

to Dakar. 

14

Our Embassy, under the new program, is the new Embassy and 

was built a bit farther outside of the city than where we were before, so in fact we avoided most of the streetfighting that was going 

on. As far as peacekeeping, UNOCI has pledged—or when it was 

stood up and renamed in 2004/2005, it pledged to remain not only 

for the Presidential elections but also legislative elections. And we 

are encouraging President Ouattara to move quickly toward legislative elections. 

Again, he won by 54 percent, and folks need to have their local 

representatives represent their individual regions in the newly 

formed national assembly. So ideally within the next 3 or 4 

months, again, with UNOCI’s help, they will be able to carry out 

those elections. 

Mr. SMITH. Thank you very much. The Chair recognizes Mr. 

Payne for such time as he may consume. 

Mr. PAYNE. Thank you very much. Let me ask regarding the opposition forces, the rebel forces, Forces Nouvelles, led by Baba Solvay. I understand there are about 20,000 troops that he has under 

his command, and to your knowledge, does President Ouattara 

have control over these forces in your opinion? Or since they were 

formed before he became a power, will, in your opinion, he be able 

to contain? 

And actually, what is needed would be, in my opinion, the demobilization, disarmament, and reintegration that we have had, successful programs in the past of the DDR. And I wonder whether 

you could address that question. 

Mr. FITZGERALD. Yes, sir. In all honesty, no, President Ouattara 

does not have control over all of the troops and rebel militias that 

are fighting for him. However, he made an early choice when he 

formed his government to pick Guillaume Soro, who in fact comes 

from the north, who was part of the former Forces Nouvelles, who 

stood up and participated in the rebellion earlier in the decade. 

I think Guillaume Soro has reasonable control over most of the 

militias and most of the armed forces now currently known as the 

Republican Forces, and that is, obviously, a deep concern. 

Our Ambassador out there, Ambassador Carter, has been in discussions just during the past week on the possibility on how to 

stand up a security sector reform program. It is clear, in fact, that 

part of the national reconciliation that the U.N. was sponsoring 

over the past 5 or 6 years—in fact, before elections there was supposed to be a disarmament and reintegration process unifying 

these two military forces. That has to begin in earnest. 

As the Congressman knows, though, unless there are decent jobs 

available, training programs, that sort of thing, it is very difficult 

to just cut away at the Armed Forces and cut them adrift. In fact, 

the discussions were going to begin in earnest with General 

Bakayoko, who is the Commander of all of Ouattara’s forces, this 

week. It has been postponed because of what is going on, but I 

think that will start up soon. 

We have a five-member team from AFRICOM already on the 

ground that will begin the discussions, along with Ambassador 

Carter and his defense attache ́, with the Republican Forces, on how 

best to begin the security sector reform program. 

15

Mr. PAYNE. You mentioned some numbers earlier. In your opinion, are there any funds, U.S. funds, that perhaps were cut off, in 

the pipeline, that could be used that may have been embargoed? 

And, secondly, there are several countries which have had relatively successful—I call them DDR programs, and so forth. In 

Rwanda there was a pretty good reintegration. Liberia has done it. 

If we could look at some of the other plans, I agree with you, you 

have to give—when you take the gun, you have got to put a hoe 

or some seeds or some job training in the hands, or they will keep 

the gun. And so I think this is very key, and I would hope that we 

could—and so my question is whether there are any funds that 

have been, you know, not allocated in the past before we start looking toward trying to get new funds. 

Mr. FITZGERALD. Thank you for that question. Unfortunately, 

Cote d’Ivoire has been in crisis for more than 10 years, so, unfortunately, I think we have located all of the funds that were hanging 

around. And no, we are not flush with money at this point to help 

begin security sector reform. 

I think we will probably team up with the United Nations, as 

well as the French and the European Union, who have participated 

in other DDR and security sector reform projects on the continent. 

The French announced just a few days ago that they were going 

to be contributing 400 million euros to Ouattara’s government, and 

the EU said 180 million euros. 

So that is close to $1 billion. Granted, most of it is directed at 

jumpstarting the economy, but nevertheless I think President 

Ouattara understands deeply how important restructuring the 

military, bringing in all of the participants, disarming them, and 

then reinserting them into the country in some meaningful capacity for—and gainful employment, is absolutely essential for this to 

go forward. Otherwise, it is whoever has the gun wins. 

And I think he will be reaching out as well. He is a former international civil servant, as you know, and spent a great deal of time 

at the IMF and World Bank, and I am sure he will reach out to 

the IFFIs as well for assistance in this regard. But the fact that 

he has already discussed it with Ambassador Carter is, again, I 

think an indication of his seriousness. 

Mr. PAYNE. And one of the things that d’Ivoire has is a tremendous amount of resources, and that gives them a leg up. I know in 

my region we have, you know, companies that import a lot of chocolate, and of course the economy in New Jersey was starting to—

had meetings with our industries to try to see if they can get moving again, and even as we had some discussion, to try new techniques where the yield of cocao in Cote d’Ivoire is almost just 25 

percent of what it is in some Asian countries. 

Mr. FITZGERALD. Yes. 

Mr. PAYNE. And I think that one program that the U.S. or the 

world community could do would be to have a large-scale training 

program where you could actually take Ivoirians to the Far East 

where the yield is much greater and see what these techniques are, 

to then bring them back to Cote d’Ivoire. I think programs like that 

might be attractive to——

Mr. FITZGERALD. Well, you know, Congressman, that is a really 

good point, and I have to say that we reached out early on to ArVerDate 0ct 09 2002 11:16 Oct 04, 2011 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00019 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 F:\WORK\AGH\041311\65794 HFA PsN: SHIRL
16

cher Daniel Midlands and the other American companies that were 

involved in this. And in fact, we began to work very closely with 

the World Cocoa Foundation. They were interested in the situation 

on the ground. We updated them usually on a weekly or biweekly 

basis—Cargill, Mars. 

I am pleased to say that the World Cocoa Foundation is very interested in partnering. It is really a public/private partnership 

whereby they don’t have a lot of money, but they very much want 

to work with the Ivoirian people, farmers in particular, not only to 

improve the yield of the crop, but also in local sensitization programs and local conflict resolution programs. So we are very encouraged by this, that these companies are—see as critically important for their production to engage in these not typically cocao-related programming. 

Mr. PAYNE. This is my last quick question. The situation with 

the government going forward, we have heard this question of governments of reconciliation. Now, governments of reconciliation can 

mean a number of different things. In Zimbabwe, a government of 

reconciliation meant that Mr. Mugabe just kept the power, and he 

said, ‘‘Well, okay, you are the Prime Minister,’’ and nothing really 

changed. 

In Kenya, we saw Kibaki steal the election allegedly, and Mr. 

Odinga became Prime Minister. However, Mr. Kibaki has all the 

power, all the authority, and Mr. Odinga is sort of marginalized as 

is in Zimbabwe. 

Now, when we hear the push for a government of reconciliation 

and inclusion, you know, I just wonder how far do you go? 

Mr. FITZGERALD. Yes. 

Mr. PAYNE. You know, when Bill Clinton went out, there weren’t 

too many Democrats hanging around. And when Obama came in, 

there weren’t too many Republicans. So, when we are asking Africans, well, just take the losers and let us all hold hands together, 

I think there has to be inclusion. But what is your opinion of this 

government of reconciliation? 

Mr. FITZGERALD. I think that is an excellent question. I can tell 

you that the United States Government, the Obama administration, has stood firm against any weakening of the victory that we 

saw Alassane Ouattara win. In other words, we weren’t willing to 

discuss a government of national unity. 

As far as we were concerned, again, because of this unique circumstance of having the U.N. actually certify the vote, where they 

counted up the ballots and the tallies as well, it was perfectly—it 

was crystal clear to us that Ouattara had won this race. Now, why 

reward the losers, was our opinion. And we stayed firm to that 

view. 

Now, as far as a government of reconciliation, I think Ouattara 

himself realizes that, because his margin of victory wasn’t so great. 

And we weren’t pushing him to include members of the opposition 

parties, but he chose—he offered two to three ministries out of 25, 

which I think is a legitimate number. 

He will also do the same with former President Bedie’s party. He 

has stronger ties, obviously, to former President Bedie than he does 

to Gbagbo. But, you know, in all the governments in Cote d’Ivoire 

17

there is a certain cadre of technocrats. He himself, Alassane 

Ouattara, one might say is a technocrat. 

So there are certainly people that he can reach out to to join his 

cabinet but not succumb to basically paralysis in the cabinet either. 

And I think he has chosen to do that. 

Mr. PAYNE. Great. Yes, that is what I want to be clear. I don’t—

one of the problems have been that when people came in they just 

had nothing to do with the other side. 

Mr. FITZGERALD. Right. 

Mr. PAYNE. I don’t think that that is right either, but to have 

some integration. A person has to lead his party, but to have, like 

I said, some others around, but not to dominate. 

Mr. FITZGERALD. Absolutely. 

Mr. PAYNE. Thank you very much. Thank you, Mr. Fitzgerald. 

Mr. FITZGERALD. Thank you, sir. 

Mr. SMITH. Thank you, Mr. Payne. 

Mr. Carnahan. 

Mr. CARNAHAN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And, again, welcome. 

I want to commend the U.S. team that led to a human rights—the 

U.N. Human Rights Council special session on the situation in 

Cote d’Ivoire, as well as the Council’s establishment of a Commission of Inquiry to investigate the human rights abuses that have 

been committed. 

I really wanted to begin my questions by asking, what effect do 

you think the Council’s actions had on the overall situation, and, 

specifically, the impact that they had on Gbagbo. 

Mr. FITZGERALD. Congressman, I am not sure that the Council 

had an effect on Laurent Gbagbo. I don’t think he ordered his 

troops to act in different ways. I don’t think he ordered his troops 

to follow restraint, which was obviously the message that we continued to hit home with President Ouattara and Prime Minister 

Soro. 

In a curious way, I think former President Gbagbo was living in 

a cocoon of his own making, a sort of surreal place where what we 

have heard is he was watching his own local news, which was controlled by the state. He didn’t have CNN turned on, he didn’t have 

BBC, he didn’t have any international news. He was following his 

own story, as it were. It was his narrative. 

As you know, he refused to take President Obama’s telephone 

calls on two occasions. This was a man who had basically wrapped 

himself up and was unwilling to see what was going on around 

him, what was truth and what was this fiction that he had developed. Nevertheless, I think some of his military leaders realized 

how serious it was, and they tried to act with restraint. But, again, 

I think on both sides there is a question of control of these militia 

groups. 

Now, Human Rights Watch also mentioned that both sides had 

very likely hired Liberian mercenaries. And you pay the mercenaries, but whether you control them is another story entirely. So 

it was absolutely essential, and I think to galvanize international 

opinion, it was essential to have the Human Rights Council. 

And, of course, President Ouattara’s permanent representative in 

Geneva was an active proponent of the special session on Cote 

18

d’Ivoire, as well as naming of the Commission of Inquiry. I hope 

that answers your question. 

Mr. CARNAHAN. It does indeed, and the other area I wanted to 

focus on was really the question of regional stability. Liberian 

President Sirleaf had spoken out about the challenges her country 

is facing, including their upcoming election and the effect that recent violence in Cote d’Ivoire and forced displacements would have 

on stability in Liberia and other countries in West Africa. 

Can you elaborate on the potential that this Ivoirian crisis has 

to destabilize peace in Liberia, especially given the massive refugee 

flows? 

Mr. FITZGERALD. Yes. 

Mr. CARNAHAN. And, secondly, to what degree are the U.S. and 

others in the international community looking at this crisis in the 

broader perspective of peace and security in the West African region? 

Mr. FITZGERALD. Thank you. Yes, two extremely important questions. There is no question that Liberia was deeply affected by this. 

Not only did they have mercenaries going over to fight in Cote 

d’Ivoire, but they also had refugees that they had to deal with. 

Fortunately, UNHCR, with the support of the U.S. Government, 

was able to stand up camps pretty quickly. And we don’t expect 

those refugees to go back very quickly, but probably within 6 

months or 1 year, once the security situation is stabilized in western Cote d’Ivoire. 

There is no question in my mind that this had the potential to 

drag Liberia back to where it was. And I would also like to say that 

it is important for the subcommittee to see that, in fact, this is the 

first time, almost in history, that the Mano River region—and that 

includes Guinea, the Republic of Guinea, Guinea-Conakry, Sierra 

Leone, Liberia, and Cote d’Ivoire—this is the first time that the 

Mano River Union is going to be in peace. 

Guinea held its first democratic elections late last year, and has 

a new President. And now with Cote d’Ivoire, it is certainly not 

solved—the Cote d’Ivoire crisis—but I think we are well on our way 

to helping President Ouattara to stand up a government. 

So I am pleased, but there is no question that this sort of turmoil, this sort of crisis that we were going through, the 4 months 

when President Gbagbo refused to leave and then began firing on 

civilians and drove out a million people from—and caused more 

than a million IDPs and 150,000 refugees in Liberia, had great potential. 

As we know from earlier on in Cote d’Ivoire, much of Cote 

d’Ivoire is made up of foreign migrants who have gone there to 

work the cocao fields, to go there. So there was the potential for 

millions of refugees to leave the country, which would have been 

destabilizing to Mali, to Burkina Faso, to Ghana as well. In this 

case, it was Liberia that bore the brunt, and it is not a country 

that is capable of handling that right now. 

Thank you. 

Mr. CARNAHAN. And my final question is really looking at the importance of the international community’s response in Cote d’Ivoire 

and in this post-election conflict. As we come up to other elections 

in the region, I think—personally, I think it sends an important 

19

signal to others in terms of how those elections are run and the 

aftermath. But there are other signals we need to be sending prior 

to those elections that can be helpful. 

Mr. FITZGERALD. Absolutely, Congressman. You are absolutely 

right. It was part of the reason why we were so adamant that this 

election be recognized, that the results of this election be accepted. 

In fact, we had near unanimous international consensus. AU, EU, 

U.N., and the United States, Canada, you name it, everyone was 

pretty much on board with this, because it will send a signal. 

If we were to allow Gbagbo to remain, even in a government of 

national unity, even sharing power, it would send a signal to every 

other African President, you know, in 15 elections, 16 elections—

I am not entirely sure how many—but in all those other—this has 

been a very clear message to African leaders across the continent, 

and, frankly, around the world to other leaders, that the democratic results must be respected. The will of the Ivoirian people, the 

will of the people who are voting, must be respected. 

Thank you. 

Mr. CARNAHAN. Thank you. I yield back. 

Mr. SMITH. Thank you. The Chair recognizes the vice chairman 

of the subcommittee, Mr. Fortenberry. 

Mr. FORTENBERRY. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for holding this 

timely hearing. And thank you, Mr. Fitzgerald, for coming today. 

I believe this was touched upon earlier, but I would like to return 

to it. 

In a meeting several weeks ago with the Ambassador from Cote 

d’Ivoire, he assured me that this is a society that respected tolerance and diversity. But the question remains as to whether there 

is a—if religious divisions are actually a subtext here with the majority of the population being Muslim, a significant minority—

slightly less than the Muslim population, being Christian, and the 

main denomination there being Catholic. 

You also saw the Vatican try to send in a special envoy to attempt some reconciliation. So what that suggests is, again, a society that has a certain amount of heightened awareness of its religious diversity. But is this a subtext in the conflict? 

Mr. FITZGERALD. No, I don’t think so, sir. I believe that, first of 

all, in Abidjan in particular, it was a political struggle between two 

opponents who have faced off against one another for more than 10 

years. And out west where we saw some of the really heinous attacks and the atrocities, that was more of an ethnic division out 

there than a religious tension between these groups. 

Mr. FORTENBERRY. You are referring to the 1,000 bodies that 

were recently discovered? 

Mr. FITZGERALD. Right. Duekoue and in other areas, they have—

the HRW—the Human Rights Watch Report was very well done, 

has made numerous credible allegations that both sides in fact are 

guilty of attacking civilians and mass killings. And we are very 

pleased that President Ouattara has agreed to an International 

Commission of Inquiry out of the U.N. Human Rights Council will 

be coming to—will be traveling to the country shortly to begin its 

investigation. 

As far as the Christian-Muslim divide, I would also point out 

that President Gbagbo’s second wife is in fact a Muslim from the 

20

northern part of the country. There is less tension between Christians and Muslims than in most states in Africa, frankly. It is a 

highly diverse, highly complicated society that has evolved over the 

years to be very tolerant. 

And I would have to agree with Ambassador Diabate that in fact 

there are—there is a lot of tolerance in Ivoirian society. People 

were set upon in certain parts, and especially out west they were 

attacked because they were Burkinabe, not that they were Muslim. 

It was a xenophobia that Laurent Gbagbo used to manipulate the 

people. 

Mr. FORTENBERRY. Projecting forward, how do you see the civil 

unrest becoming placated, given that if what you are suggesting is 

the—is not a dominant factor in terms of divisions, the political 

strife over the last 10 years being the more dominant factor, perhaps plus some ethnic divisions, project out what you see evolving 

in the near term and long term with this change of governance. 

Mr. FITZGERALD. Well, there is no question that the first order 

of business—and a number of things will have to be done simultaneously—but President Ouattara has told us that his first order of 

business is political reconciliation. He has got to bring back the 

north, which is predominantly Muslim and reunify the north with 

the south, which is primarily Christian and animist. 

I think he is going to do that in certain ways. He is going to include southerners, obviously, in his cabinet. He is going to hold legislative elections and stand up a serious national assembly so local 

areas will have serious representation. I think that he needs to 

jumpstart the economy, and he needs to start building the economy, and create jobs for people. 

Mr. FORTENBERRY. How long do you anticipate the U.N. troop 

contingent to remain there as well as France? 

Mr. FITZGERALD. That is a good question. The French have signaled that they are already beginning to draw down. I think the 

French will probably remain there through probably—they may 

maintain a small contingent there, because they have so many expatriates there. 

It is estimated that the French have approximately 15,000 expatriates living and working in Cote d’Ivoire, many of them who have 

been born there and raised there, and the like. I think they will 

probably draw down a lot of their forces this year, but probably 

leave a contingent. 

As far as the U.N., its mandate continues through legislative 

elections. I believe that President Ouattara wants to have these 

legislative elections as soon as possible. Granted, there is certain 

insecurity still left in Abidjan. Not all of Gbagbo’s loyalists have 

given up their weapons. I think there is looting going on. 

There is no question that security sector reform has to happen 

very soon, including a robust disarmament program. I think the 

U.N. will probably begin to draw down after legislative elections. 

Mr. FORTENBERRY. All right. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Mr. SMITH. Thank you very much. Mr. Marino. 

Mr. MARINO. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Good morning, Mr. Fitzgerald. Welcome. 

Mr. FITZGERALD. Good morning, sir. 

21

Mr. MARINO. From what I am hearing, I believe that we are on 

the right track. But outside of a guarantee, how can we be certain 

that the—what was it, $31.7 million——

Mr. FITZGERALD. Right. 

Mr. MARINO [continuing]. And anything else that we are going to 

put into this, is going to be used effectively and as we have—we 

are told it was going to be used. 

Mr. FITZGERALD. Yes. 

Mr. MARINO. And I don’t mean to be sarcastic, but I don’t want 

to see it ending up in some dictator’s bank account——

Mr. FITZGERALD. Sure. 

Mr. MARINO [continuing]. Planning for the future. 

Mr. FITZGERALD. Well, the majority of that money is coming out 

of the Bureau of Population Refugees and Migration, and typically 

we contribute that money to—in this case I believe the majority is 

going to UNHCR and to ICRC. Both the UNHCR, the High Commissioner for Refugees, and the ICRC have excellent reputations 

for spending the money correctly. 

We did have a PRM representative travel out to eastern Liberia—it is very different terrain—to see precisely what was needed. 

And based on her assessment, we will be able to track with precisely what UNHCR is doing. 

Now, OFTA also gave money to ICRC, and ICRC is one of the 

few organizations that is able to work, and has been working, inside of Cote d’Ivoire. As you know, the International Committee for 

the Red Cross is able to cross lines, usually has ties to both sides, 

and really plays a critical humanitarian role in conflict and strife. 

What I have heard from people who have seen what ICRC is 

doing, they are also very active in Abidjan as well, that I think 

that money is going to be well spent. But there is no question that 

there will be robust monitoring and evaluation of the money we 

spend. We are stewards of the taxpayers’ money, and we understand that completely. It is absolutely important that this be used 

to help the people who need it. 

Mr. MARINO. Thank you. And what is our level of comfort with 

this government? And if it does not work out as planned, what is 

our strategy? 

Mr. FITZGERALD. I think we have a high degree of comfort with 

President Ouattara. He is a democrat. He is responsive to our concerns and has been throughout this crisis. Former President 

Gbagbo cut us off after the second round of the elections, and we 

had only intermittent contact with his purported Foreign Minister 

but President Ouattara has been very open. And I think we will 

have excellent lines of communication with him. If we see that he 

is doing something wrong, or one of his ministries has gone awry, 

we are going to be able to take it up to the highest level. 

I would like to add, too, that President Obama spoke with President Ouattara yesterday and congratulated him for holding out. He 

was, as you know, trapped in the Golf Hotel for a little bit more 

than 4 months. But President Obama himself also said, ‘‘We are 

holding you accountable. You told us you were going to have an 

international commission investigate these human rights violations. We are going to hold you to that promise.’’

22

And we will. This commission will cut both ways. It will—there 

is no impunity, and I was pleased to see President Ouattara say 

that as well. The age of impunity in Cote d’Ivoire is over, and we 

are going to hold him to it. 

Mr. MARINO. Thank you, sir. 

I yield my time, Mr. Chairman. 

Mr. SMITH. Thank you, Mr. Marino. 

Let me just ask a couple of final questions, Mr. Fitzgerald——

Mr. FITZGERALD. Please. 

Mr. SMITH [continuing]. And then yield to Mr. Payne if he has 

any further questions or comments. Can you assure the committee 

that, particularly the money that is flowing through the Global 

Health Initiative, is robustly including faith-based organizations, 

whether they be Christian or Muslim? 

Secondly, it is my understanding that we are providing about 38 

percent of the funds to the UNHCR, and I certainly support that. 

France, in contrast, is providing about 2 percent, and I am wondering if there is an unmet need that UNHCR has that we might, 

you know, put some pressure on our friends and allies to step up 

to the plate and provide that. 

And, finally, in Abidjan and elsewhere, law enforcement left in 

large numbers during the conflict. What is happening in terms of 

reconstituting that law enforcement to ensure that everyday crime 

is held to account and people are arrested when they commit 

crimes? And is there an international role to that? 

Mr. FITZGERALD. Yes, thank you. I will start with the last one 

on law enforcement. In fact, the head of the gendarmerie, General 

Kassarate, and the head of the Inspector General for police, have 

sworn their allegiance now to President Ouattara. And they went 

on television and called all of the gendarmes and all of the police 

officers to return to duty immediately, and that is immediately as 

of 9 o’clock a.m. local time in Cote d’Ivoire this morning. 

So we will see just how successful they are. UNOCI will be playing a big role in maintaining and ensuring law and order. The European Union, in the past, has provided police training, and I think 

we can expect them to pony up for that as well. 

On the UNHCR funding, I think we should lean on our allies. We 

have leaned on them enough as it is. They are used to it, I think. 

Again, the 400 million euros is money that we don’t have to help 

jumpstart the economy, so I think we will focus on what we do 

best, and the French will focus on what they do best. 

And I would add that our relationship with the French throughout this crisis, as it has been in Guinea when we were working on 

elections there, has been excellent with very close contact, in constant discussions, and pretty much in lockstep on our policy. 

As you know, Congressman, PEPFAR does rely heavily on faithbased organizations. That is one of the critical and one of the key 

reasons that it is so successful. So I don’t have the specifics—I can 

get those for you—but I am certain——

Mr. SMITH. If you could, we could include it in the record as well. 

Mr. FITZGERALD. Absolutely. Actually, now that you mention it, 

Mr. Chairman, I would like to enter into the record the Special 

Representative’s report on how he calculated the elections. I think 

there is a lot of confusion in the world about how precisely the 

23

U.N. was able to ensure that the election was as clear-cut as it 

was. 

And, again, it is that unique certification role that both sides 

agreed to. Laurent Gbagbo and Alassane Ouattara agreed that the 

U.N., because of the difficulties, the differences between the two 

sides, they agreed that they would in fact allow the U.N. to certify 

the election. So I would like to add that to the record as well. 

Mr. SMITH. Without objection, it will be included in the record. 

Mr. FITZGERALD. Thank you, sir. 

Mr. SMITH. Thank you. 

Mr. FITZGERALD. And I will get you answers. But, again, faithbased—the difficulty has been over the past 4 months that 

PEPFAR money has not been able to get out. As you know, 

Laurent Gbagbo tried to nationalize the banks, and so disbursement of funds was extraordinarily difficult. And we didn’t want to 

give out funds where we had no control over them, so that will restart immediately, frankly. 

Thank you. 

Mr. SMITH. Thank you. 

Mr. Payne. 

Mr. PAYNE. Thank you. Thank you very much. As you know, in 

the chocolate industry, there has been a Harkin-Engel Protocol 

where there has been an interest in trying to improve the conditions in the——

Mr. FITZGERALD. Yes. 

Mr. PAYNE [continuing]. Mainly child labor. 

Mr. FITZGERALD. Yes. 

Mr. PAYNE. Perhaps as we move forward, we could encourage—

I know Mars has a very strong—and the reason I know more about 

them, because they are in my Garden State of New Jersey, but—

and I am sure the others may have positive programs, too. 

But if we could encourage them that sometimes you can eliminate children working in the fields, if there are opportunities for 

them at schooling or in Liberia, we have the same problem with 

the rubber industry. But if you have some facilities where—a child 

care center or education could be there, the mother doesn’t have to 

watch the child. 

So as we move forward, it may be that our economic sector could 

push that issue. Or have you dealt with it at all? 

Mr. FITZGERALD. Well, we have dealt with it. We have discussed 

it early on with the World Cocoa Foundation, as well as with Mars. 

In fact, I met Mr. and Mrs. Mars at an awards ceremony for American Corporation of Excellence, and Mars was receiving an award. 

And Mrs. Mars’ complaint was that the security situation was so 

bad last year that she couldn’t go to Cote d’Ivoire, but they very 

much want to stand up just this sort of program to provide clinics 

and schooling for the people, the farmers, the small-scale farmers 

in particular. 

There is no question that we are very well aware of the HarkinEngel legislation, and it is a key part of what we do on the ground 

in Cote d’Ivoire, and in Ghana as well of course. 

Thank you, sir. 

Mr. PAYNE. Thank you. Well, I certainly feel that Cote d’Ivoire 

can return. It is a country with a lot of resources, very vibrant peoVerDate 0ct 09 2002 11:16 Oct 04, 2011 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00027 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 F:\WORK\AGH\041311\65794 HFA PsN: SHIRL
24

ple, and I think that we can work together. I believe that the north 

and the south can work together. People have worked together. 

You know, religion was never a big issue in families in Africa. 

You know, we didn’t know which religion the other sibling was, and 

I think that perhaps we here in the U.S. are starting to overplay 

Muslim versus Christian when it is basically a non-issue with the 

average person, 95 percent of the people, you don’t know who they 

are, like I said, even within families. 

And so I think that the more we defuse this as a—you know, we 

have had—ethnicity was bad enough. Now we don’t need to put 

something else on top of it. And so——

Mr. FITZGERALD. Right. 

Mr. PAYNE [continuing]. I would just wonder if you see it that 

way, too. 

Mr. FITZGERALD. Yes. Yes, very much. I think in particular in 

this case, it really is much more of—this was a political fight. 

Mr. PAYNE. Right. 

Mr. FITZGERALD. This was a political fight, not even an ethnic 

fight. What is going on in the west, or what has happened in the 

past in the west, is ethnic score settling and that sort of thing that 

has been going on for decades, if not longer. But within Abidjan, 

these are two opponents—Laurent Gbagbo and Alassane 

Ouattara—who have really disliked one another for fighting on different sides for a long, long time. 

But again, you can’t underestimate Laurent Gbagbo. He is a 

master tactician. He has been able to spin a lot of the messaging. 

He is a very skillful tactician. He is not a strategist, but he is a 

tactician. He is very, very good at that. And so as he did earlier 

in the decade, in 2002/2003, he would foment these divisions. He 

would bring them to the fore and say these ethnic divisions are 

what the problem is. He would throw grenades in a mosque. Just 

recently, his security forces did. 

So, again, I agree with you overall. I think that it is not a Christian-Muslim thing. I don’t even think it is an ethnic thing, this political crisis. I think it is a political battle. 

Mr. PAYNE. Thank you. Thank you very much. 

Mr. FITZGERALD. Thank you, sir. 

Mr. SMITH. Thank you. Mr. Fitzgerald, anything else you would 

like to add before we conclude the hearing? 

Mr. FITZGERALD. No, sir. 

Mr. SMITH. I thank you for your testimony, for your leadership. 

Mr. FITZGERALD. Thank you very much, sir. 

Mr. SMITH. Thank you. 

The hearing is adjourned. 

[Whereupon, at 10:27 a.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.] 

(25)

A P P E N D I X 

MATERIAL SUBMITTED FOR THE HEARING RECORD

26

f


65794n.eps
27

f


65794m.eps
28

MATERIAL SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD BY MR. WILLIAM FITZGERALD, DEPUTY

ASSISTANT SECRETARY, BUREAU OF AFRICAN AFFAIRS, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE


65794b-1.eps
29


65794b-2.eps
30


65794c-1.eps
31


65794c-2.eps
32


65794c-3.eps
33


65794c-4.eps
34


65794c-5.eps
35

Æ


65794c-6.eps