Opinion ID: 47239
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: State Department Country Report

Text: The 2002 State Department Country Report on Human Rights Practices in Cote d’Ivoire listed the FPI as the “ruling” or “governing” party during the time relevant to this case. Id. at 230, 233, 241-43, 249-50. The report stated that the FPI candidate was elected president in October 2000, which caused violence and unrest between members of the FPI and the RDR. It described how, in September 2002, exiled military members and RDR members started uprisings primarily in the north, where RDR members are concentrated, but also in Abidjan (where Angodo lived). That same year, clashes between FPI and RDR members resulted in many deaths on both sides. The report also stated that there is a great deal of domestic violence and other abuse against women, and observed that there is a “severe social stigma” attached to victims of such abuse in Cote d’Ivoire, that victims of rape and other abuse are “often” ignored by the authorities, and that the 6 government does not keep statistics on “rape or other physical abuse of women.” Id. at 251.