- 338 students repatriated have received their letters of authorisation from the Ministry of National
and Technical Education to register in the Ivorian educational system.
- Applications for integration into the Universities and the Advanced Schools and project financing
have been collected and forwarded to the Ministries concerned.
Moreover, the Ivorian government made a commitment on Thursday 13 December 2013 not to arrest
exiled persons and refugees who supported former President Laurent Gbagbo. Their return was based on
the premise that they would not get involved in bloody crimes.
As a result of this decision, about 1300 Ivorian military men returned from exile on Friday 24 January
2014, thus responding to the call by the Head of State, who made an appeal to the remaining people in
exile and refugees to come back to the country by guaranteeing their security and reintegration into the
army (for the military) and the public service (for the civil servants).
With regard to the war victims, the major activities centred on the preparation of a draft ordinance on
identification of the victims ; compensation for any harm caused and the inventory of the victims. To this
day, after the identification has been completed by CONARIV, the PNCS starts compensating the victims as
indicated supra. (Cf. Recommendation V).
Recommendation XX. Establish appropriate legislative measures to ensure the protection of Human
Rights Defenders.
Law No. 2014-388 of 20 June 2014 on promoting and protecting human rights defenders was enacted on 20
June 2014 and published in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire. The implementing decree
is being prepared in collaboration with civil society.
Recommendation XXI. Decriminalise press offences and guarantee access to information
Law No. 2004-643 of 14 December, 2004 on the law system governing the media stipulates in Article 68
(paragraph 1) that “the term of imprisonment is excluded from press offences”. Paragraph 3 of the same
Article enumerates press offences for which a period of imprisonment is excluded. These are offences
against the State, in particular the libel offence against the Head of State punishable under Article 74 of the
the aforementioned law.
However, a journalist who offends the libel law and the professional code of ethics is liable to disciplinary
and administrative penalties by the regulatory agencies, that is, the National Media Council (CNP) and the
High Authority for Audiovisual Communication (HAAC). These punishments include: warning, reprimand,
suspension and expulsion in line with Article 47 of the law on the legal system governing the media.
The suspension of the President of the National Union of Journalists of Côte d’Ivoire (UNJCI) on 24 January
2014 for attempted corruption is a case in point.
Côte d’Ivoire has changed dramatically in the last few years in terms of access to information and to
guarantee this, Law No. 2013-867 of 23 December 2013 on access to public interest information guarantees
free access to information by every citizen. This law allows the implementation of fundamental rights to
information universally recognised by the Constitution”
The establishment and especially the effective functioning of this institution, the principal mission of which
is to ensure respect for and implement the right of access to information and public documents by the
population, was one of the main performance indicators taken into account by the Millenium Challenge
Corporation (MCC) in determining Côte d’Ivoire’s eligibility.
Recommendation XXII. Adopt a specific legislation relating to definition and punishment for torture, in
line with the international convention against torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or
punishment and the Robben Island Guidelines ;
The Constitution prohibits the practice of torture. Thus, Article 3, stipulates that : “Slavery, forced labour,
cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and punishment, physical or psychological torture, physical violence
and mutilations and all forms of degrading treatment are prohibited”.
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