The United Nations Security Council decided Monday to extend its mission of 9,000 troops in the increasingly threatening situation for its members in Ivory Coast (UNCOI) for another six months, until June 30, 2011.
This decision is counter to the demand made by incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo that the U.N. and French troops should leave the country by Monday.
The UNCOI accused Gbagbo of harassing its staff and foreign diplomats. Since Dec. 15, there have been reports of hostile incidents against the members of the U.N. mission by Gbagbo supporters, Special Representative Y. J. Choi noted, according to a news release.
The headquarters was fired on by six men in a car. And staff members have been harassed at home and blocked from leaving headquarters; some “have been sleeping at the office.”
U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said there was “growing evidence of massive violations of human rights” since Thursday, Radio France International reports.
Nineteen Ivorians deemed responsible for violations of human rights were put on a list Monday during an EU summit. Gbagbo, who is on that list, was denied a visa for the EU, which he wanted to visit with his wife, according to French Radio International.
Gbagbo refuses to step down despite international support of Alassane Ouattara winning the nation’s Nov. 28 presidential runoff election.
This decision is counter to the demand made by incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo that the U.N. and French troops should leave the country by Monday.
The UNCOI accused Gbagbo of harassing its staff and foreign diplomats. Since Dec. 15, there have been reports of hostile incidents against the members of the U.N. mission by Gbagbo supporters, Special Representative Y. J. Choi noted, according to a news release.
The headquarters was fired on by six men in a car. And staff members have been harassed at home and blocked from leaving headquarters; some “have been sleeping at the office.”
U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said there was “growing evidence of massive violations of human rights” since Thursday, Radio France International reports.
Nineteen Ivorians deemed responsible for violations of human rights were put on a list Monday during an EU summit. Gbagbo, who is on that list, was denied a visa for the EU, which he wanted to visit with his wife, according to French Radio International.
Gbagbo refuses to step down despite international support of Alassane Ouattara winning the nation’s Nov. 28 presidential runoff election.
