Disarmament – 2008

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Disarmament – 2008

2008

Minimum Implementation Minimal implementation

The third supplementary agreement set a 22 December 2007 deadline for the commencement of the cantonment process for the state as well as for the Forces Nouvelles. As reported on 24 January, 12,000 soldiers in the Defence and Security Forces were cantoned and registered as provisioned for in the third supplementary agreement. They also deposited their weapons in storage. The cantonment of Forces Nouvelles combatants, however, did not progress significantly. As of 1 April 2008, there were only 109 Forces Nouvelles ex-combatants cantoned. The lack of clarity about the integration program was the likely reason for the lack of progress.1 Among 2,000 militia members who were registered in June 2006, only 981 were disarmed and received cash allowances.2

By the end of the year, out of a total strength of 34,678 combatants declared by Forces Nouvelles, 11,364 combatants, including 455 female combatants, were cantoned. Among cantoned combatants, “7,598 have chosen to be demobilized, including 802 foreign combatants (from Benin, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, the Niger, Nigeria and Togo), and 3,766 have expressed interest in joining the new national army. Only 10 weapons and some ammunition were collected”.3 As progress on DDR did not move smoothly, parties negotiated a fourth supplementary agreement on 22 December 2008 that called for the completion of the DDR process two months prior to the elections.4

  1. “Sixteenth progress report of the Secretary-General on the United Nations Operation in C™te dÕIvoire,” United Nations Security Council (S/2008/250), April 15, 2008.
  2. “Sixteenth progress report of the Secretary-General on the United Nations Operation in C™te dÕIvoire,” United Nations Security Council (S/2008/250), April 15, 2008.
  3. “Eighteenth progress report of the Secretary-General on the United Nations Operation in C™te dÕIvoire,” United Nations Security Council (S/2008/645), October 13, 2008.
  4. “Nineteenth progress report of the Secretary-General on the United Nations Operation in C™te dÕIvoire,” United Nations Security Council (S/2009/21), January 8, 2009.