President Obama should not host Côte d’Ivoire’s Alassane Ouattara

On Friday, July 29, 2011 President Barack Obama will meet Mr. Allassane Ouattara at the White House.

Although the meeting may fall into the normal US-Cote d’Ivoire bilateral relations, it is nonetheless questionable that it is to take place at a moment when Cote d’Ivoire is still suffering from the consequences of the tragic events, which followed the presidential election of November 2010 and to which the Obama administration contributed.

Despite the pompous speeches and the calls to calm and national reconciliation of Mr. Ouattara and his coup d'état-born regime that numerous Ivoirians do not recognize as legitimate, the world sees that the use of military action to solve the electoral dispute has annihilated any chance of reunification, reconciliation, and reconstruction in Cote d’Ivoire.

Three months after he was unconstitutionally sworn in Mr. Ouattara has led Cote d’Ivoire in a situation that is worse than the pre-October 2010 situation:

- police and gendarmerie forces are disarmed and not operational,
- the army is disorganized while numerous officers have fled into exile, - pro-Ouattara warlords of the “Forces Nouvelles” continue to administer the areas which were under their control before April 11, 2011,
- exactions and indictments against the partisans of Mr. Gbagbo continue according to Human Right Watch,
- Human Right Watch also acknowledge that Pro-Gbagbo political prisoners are tortured and humiliated,
- the number of refugees, about 2 million people, continues to rise and there is no sign of their imminent return,
- the freedom of the press is inexistent, the headquarters of newspapers opposed to Ouattara’s regime are besieged, journalists are in jail,
- pro-Ouattara armed men illegally occupy and exploit cocoa and coffee plantations after killing or chasing their rightful owners away,
- in Duekoue and neighboring towns pro-Ouattara forces continue ethnic and political cleansing,
- pro-Ouattara forces still terrorize civilians with their indiscipline and frequent in-fighting,
- the Dialogue, Truth and Reconciliation Commission is not credible as Yale Professor Mc Govern testified to the US Senate ,
- political parties are opposed to Ouattara’ regime are not allowed to assemble in a politically healthy environment,
- parliamentary elections are discussed while conditions are far worse than the conditions in which the presidential election of 2010 took place.

The US administration is fully aware of the above observation. Therefore, the African Diaspora for Democracy and Development declares that by hosting Mr. Ouattara Allassane, President Obama:

- infringes on the January 26, 2011 decree through which he extends for one year to February 2012, Executive order No 13396 applying US international Emergency Act to Cote d’Ivoire in accordance to UN 2002 Resolution 1572,
- encourages Mr. Ouattara for seizing fraudulently and allowing the insecurity that exists in Cote d’Ivoire since April 11, 2011,
- accomplishes a diplomatic gesture whose sole aim is to grant rebellion-born regime of Mr. Ouattara the status of the democratic regime,
- gives Ivoirians many more reasons to believe that his involvement in the Ivorian crisis was only meant to accomplish an unconstitutional regime change,

President Obama should be reminded that he and his administration, especially Mrs. Hillary Clinton, Mrs. Suzanne Rice, and Ambassador Philip Carter III, will not escape the tribunal of history for their blind and unconditional support to Mr. Ouattara, whose brutal and un-democratic entry in Cote d’Ivoire’s politics, has bred more violence than any of the four previous regimes before him.

It is certain that the silent majority of Ivoirians will never tolerate the reign of terror that Mr. Ouattara, his rebels, and Soro Guillaume have established in Cote d’Ivoire. They will continue to demand the restoration of constitutional order and the dignity of the united people of Cote d’Ivoire.

The African Diaspora for Democracy and Development calls on US elected officials, Congressmen, Senators, civilians, members of the clergy, and humanitarian organizations to ask President Obama:

- to refrain from hosting leaders who come to power through coups d’état or truncated elections,
- to acknowledge Mr. Ouattara’s failures three months after his illegal accession to power,
- to request the end of the two customs and fiscal administration system, the pillages and exactions of the pro-Ouattara’s forces, and the repression against the press,
- to request the release of Laurent Gbagbo, his spouse Simone Gbagbo and all political prisoners to facilitate reconciliation and reconstruction in Cote d’Ivoire.

Eric Edi, PhD., President – Pennsylvannia, [email][email protected]