After the contested presidential election, Defence and Security Forces, including the police and gendarmerie remained politicized and divided either as a loyal to the president or to the Forces Républicaines de Cte dÕIvoire (FRCI). Forces nouvelles changed its name to Forces Républicaines de Cte dÕIvoire (FRCI) on 9 March 2011. It was uncertain whether the police and gendarmerie force would unite and be able to return to work.
However, the government made a decision to form the police, gendarmerie, and correction system based upon the old services. There were an estimated 30,000 police and gendarmes in Ivory Coast before the electoral dispute. As of June 2011, 85 percent of the forces registered to return to their work stations (Source: United Nations Secretary General’s Report to the Security Council, S/2011/387, 24 June 2011). By December 2011, over 90 percent of police and gendarmerie forces had returned to work (Source: United Nations Secretary General’s Report to the Security Council, S/2011/807, 30 December 2011).
The police reform took place in 2009 when 4,000 Forces nouvelles combatants joined the Ivorian police and gendarmerie force and were deployed in mixed units by the Integrated Command Centre. However, it was not clear whether the integration became permanent or not.
Significant progress was made towards integrating Forces nouvelles combatants into the police force and deploying them into joint integrated units. As reported to the United Nations Security Council, 3,400 Forces nouvelles personnel were integrated and deployed as police and gendarmerie elements under the Integrated Command Center. The 4,000 integrated Forces nouvelles combatants were deployed by the Integrated Command Centers with an equal number of police and gendarmerie from the Ivorian police force. However, it was reported that the Forces nouvelles personnel serving in the joint units did not receive their salaries while those from the Ivorian police and gendarmerie did receive salaries. This completes the police reform provision of the accord.
A facilitator presented a proposal on 5 January 2008 to integrate 600 Forces Nouvelles security auxiliaries, trained by UNOCI in 2006, and 3,400 additional Forces nouvelles combatants into the police and gendarmerie forces after meeting the national recruitment criteria. The process of integrating Forces Nouvelles personnel into the police and military stalled; however, parties reached an agreement on 22 December that called for the immediate, albeit temporary, integration of the Ivorian police and gendarmerie. This, however, did not take place in 2008.
The Ouagadougou Political Agreement had a provision for restructuring and reorganizing two armed forces into one Defence and Security Forces. The accord calls for reform in the security sector including in the police force. Article 6.2.3 of the accord calls for the creation of joint units comprised of equal numbers of FAFN and FDS members with the responsibility for conducting police and security missions in the zone of confidence.
The United Nations Operation in Cte d’Ivoire (UNOCI) was responsible for maintaining law and order in the zone of confidence, which was supposed to be dismantled. UNOCI’s involvement was replaced by the deployment of mixed police units comprised of combatants from both sides. The Integrated Command Centre, comprised of combatants from both sides, was established with a presidential decree on 16 March 2007. After the establishment of CCI, six joint police units comprised of personnel from Forces nouvelles and Defence and Security Forces (FDS) were deployed in six different places by 15 September.
When two chiefs of staff met on 14 and 17 December 2007 in the presence of the Force Commanders of UNOCI, the French Licorne force, and the coordinator of the National Programme for Reintegration and Community Rehabilitation (NPRRC), it was agreed that 4,000 Forces nouvelles combatants would be integrated into the national police and gendarmerie. However, no Forces nouvelles combatants were absorbed or integrated in the police force as of December 2007.
No further developments observed.
No further developments observed.
No further developments observed.
“With the end of the Ivorian election crisis, Alassane Ouattara ordered all militia groups to disarm and join the national army.” Claiming that the FDSI-CI refused to obey the order to disarm, the FRCI launched an assault against the militia stronghold in Abobo and killed the leader Ibrahim Coulibaly. “In the months following the event, hundreds of members of the FDSI-CI disarmed and joined the national army.”
“President Ouattara combined the former rebel Forces Nouvelles (FN) with cooperating elements of the Defense and Security Forces (FDS), the former government’s security forces, into the Republic Forces of Cote dÕIvoire (FRCI), the country’s new official military.” The overall strength of the FRCI was at 40,000 and it was reported that an additional 40,000 personnel were recruited on an ad hoc basis during the post-election crisis.
“The Ivoirian government is rebranding the national army to change the force’s negative image . . . The name of the current army – Forces Républicaines de Cte d’Ivoire (FRCI), set up in March by President Alassane Ouattara – will revert back to Forces Armées Nationales de Cte d’Ivoire or (FANCI).”
The contested presidential election hindered the implementation of military reform provisions, particularly the integration of Forces Nouvelles combatants. As parties effectively returned to full-fledged violence after disputed elections, Defence and Security Forces, including the police and gendarmerie, remained politicized and divided their loyalties between the President and Forces Nouvelles, which changed its name to the Forces Républicaines de Cte dÕIvoire (FRCI) on 9 March 2011. As the conflict ended with the capture of Mr. Gbagbo, the Ivorian government estimated that there were approximately 40,000 to 60,000 combatants among official armed groups (i.e., the police, gendarmerie, former Republican Guard, FRCI, and CECOS), militias, and foreign armed elements, including Ivorian combatants abroad. Because FDS had disintegrated, the government intended to integrate former Forces Nouvelles and FDS — who joined the FRCI during the crisis — into the FRCI.
