In Arpil 2012, the DDR process started. The government intended to assemble an estimated 40,000 combatants who participated in the post-election crisis in 18 different sites across the country. The government predicted the recruitment of 2,000 into FRCI, 15,000 into the reserve force, and 23,000 into the DDR process. An estimated 40,000 FRCI combatants were expected to participate out of an estimated caseload of 60,000 to 100,000.
With UNOCI support, a national policy concerning DDR was adopted on August 2 and provided for a single entity to oversee the process: the Authority for Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (ADDR). “The Authority for Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration developed a pilot programme for an initial caseload of 5,000 former combatants to be processed at the Anyama demobilization site in Abidjan. The operation targeted mainly elements associated with FRCI who had fought on the of President Ouattara during the post-elections crisis. . . . As of 18 December, 1,194 former combatants, including 63 women, have been disarmed and demobilized . . .”
After the contested elections and the subsequent recurrence of conflict between the Forces Nouvelles and the supporters of president Gbagbo, the DDR process stalled. This occurred mostly because the state’s Defence and Security Forces remained politically divided. By the end of 2011, it was estimated that there were approximately 40,000 to 60,000 combatants comprised of official armed groups (state police, gendarmerie, former Republican guard, and Forces Nouvelles), militias and self-defence forces, and foreign armed elements. Among the 20,000 combatants that joined the FRCI (formerly Forces Nouvelles) during the conflict, 18,000 were said to have gone through the disarmament and remobilization process, of which 2,500 were cantoned for the purpose of demobilization.
By 2010, 32,777 Forces Nouvelles combatants were registered, 23,777 of which were to be demobilized. By the end of the year, 17,601 combatants were demobilized. The demobilized combatants received a $200 cash allowance. Among those who choose to be reintegrated back into society, only a few had received reinsertion support through micro-projects. Only 17,301 militia members out of 37,436 were dismantled or demobilized.
Significant progress was made in terms of demobilizing Forces Nouvelles combatants. By the end of the year, a total of 16,081 Forces Nouvelles combatants were demobilized. It was also estimated that an additional 12,000 Forces Nouvelles combatants would be demobilized.
Some progress was also made towards registering government militia members. The Integrated Command Center and the national program for reinsertion and community rehabilitation finished the registration process for the government militia. There were 37,436 government militia members registered for the demobilization and rehabilitation program.
The third supplementary agreement set 22 December 2007 as the deadline for the commencement of the cantonment process for the state as well as the Forces Nouvelles forces. As reported on 24 January, 12,000 soldiers in the Defence and Security Forces were cantoned and registered. As of 1 April 2008, there were only 109 Forces Nouvelles ex-combatants cantoned. Among cantoned combatants, only the Forces Nouvelles combatants were to be demobilized.
By the end of the year, 11,364 out of a total of 34,678 combatants declared by Forces Nouvelles were cantoned, 455 of which were female combatants. 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” (U.N. Security Council, 2008).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.
In the Ouagadougou Political Agreement, parties agreed to the national disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration program. The parties committed themselves to various agreements negotiated before the Ouagadougou Political Agreement was signed, including the 17 previously identified and agreed-upon sites for the assembly of the combatants. The accord also provided for the establishment of the Integrated Command Centre, which was tasked with carrying out the disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration of ex-combatants.
No significant progress was made in terms of the demobilization of former combatants other than establishing the Integrated Command Centre on 16 April following a presidential decree on 16 March 2007. Nevertheless, by the end of 2007 both sides had agreed on the number of Forces Nouvelles combatants to be integrated into the national army (5,000), the police force (4,000), and civic services (20,000), as well as reintegration into civilian lives (6,000), totaling 35,000 personnel. Since Forces Nouvelles insisted on the integration of its combatants into the national army without disarming them, an estimated 30,000 Forces Nouvelles combatants had to go through the demobilization process.
No further developments observed.
No further developments observed.
No further developments observed.
In early 2012, police and gendarmerie forces were redeployed all over the country butthey lacked infrastructural and logistical preparation. A steering committee with representatives from international community along with the UNOCI was formed in an effort to reform the national police. The Minister of the Interior chaired the committee.
