Ouattara, his hands soaked in the blood of Ivorians?

The acquittal of former Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo by the International Criminal Court could suggest that the current head of state is responsible for the atrocities that cost the lives of more than 3,000 people during the post-election crisis in 2010-2011.

The court in The Hague acquitted former Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo and the leader of the Young Patriots, Charles Blé Goudé, on Wednesday 31 March 2021, in a ruling by the International Criminal Court, confirming its judgment in 2019. « By a majority, the appeals chamber rejects (…) the prosecutor’s appeal and confirms the decision of the trial chamber, » the final communiqué said.

It has therefore been clearly established that neither the former head of state, Laurent Gbagbo, nor the leader of the Young Patriots, Charles Blé Goudé, are, either directly or indirectly, involved in the post-election crisis that engulfed Côte d’Ivoire between 2010 and 2011, resulting in the death of more than 3000 people.

However, the two Ivorian personalities were prosecuted for crimes against humanity and war crimes, in the context of the violence committed between December 2010 and April 2011. The charges followed the announcement of the results of the presidential elections in favour of the current head of state, Alassane Ouattara.

Unquestionably, there were crimes against humanity and war crimes in Côte d’Ivoire during this period of 2010-2011. If the former head of state, Laurent Gbagbo, and the leader of the Young Patriots, Charles Blé Goudé, who were initially accused, are not the culprits, then who is responsible for the killings? However, it is known that at the time, two leaders were stalking power: Laurent Gbagbo, who wanted to keep his presidential chair, and Alassane Ouattara, who wanted to come to power.

At the cost of the blood of many thousands of Ivorians? Nothing is less certain. Now that Laurent Gbagbo has been acquitted, ten years after being accused, eyes are inevitably turning to the current Ivorian head of state, Alassane Dramane Ouattara, who could therefore be the main person responsible for the massacres of 2010-2011. He has broken the sinister record of a head of state who has lost two prime ministers in the space of eight months.