AI: Over 200 people illegally detained, tortured in Ivory Coast

PanARMENIAN.Net - Police and soldiers in Ivory Coast have illegally detained and tortured more than 200 people including supporters of former President Laurent Gbagbo, following a series of armed attacks that began in August, Amnesty International said on Friday, Oct 26, according to Reuters.

UN investigators said earlier this month that exiled members of Gbagbo's former government and military living in neighboring Ghana were behind the raids, which have targeted police and army installations as well as key infrastructure.

Gbagbo is awaiting trial in The Hague accused of crimes against humanity related to a brief war last year that erupted after he refused to accept the election victory of rival Alassane Ouattara in a late 2010 poll.

More than 3,000 people were killed in the conflict.

"While acknowledging that the ... government is facing a wave of attacks, we are very worried that the current arrests and repression stem from a willingness for reprisals and revenge," Amnesty West Africa researcher Gaetan Mootoo said.

Ivory Coast's government rejected the accusations made in a statement released by Amnesty on Friday.

"These are not at all the practices of our government. We do things legally," government spokesman Bruno Kone told Reuters. "There have been attacks, and it is our mission to protect Ivorian citizens and stop this. This is what we are doing."