PRESIDENTIAL BODYGUARD FROM COTE D'IVOIRE ALLEGES

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ACCRA 002350 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/29/2014 TAGS: GH IV PGOV PHUM PINR PREF SUBJECT: PRESIDENTIAL BODYGUARD FROM COTE D'IVOIRE ALLEGES ABUSES Classified By: PolChief Scott Ticknor for reasons 1.5 d and e. ¶1. (C) Summary: Post is processing a refugee request from a Cote d,Ivoire presidential bodyguard currently in a safe house in Accra. This message relays a rambling statement he made to us on November 12, 2004 detailing an attempted assassination against him by forces under the orders of Ivorian President Gbagbo. Gbagbo, he claims, has set up a clandestine security service that has carried out targeted killings of political opponents. Among the leaders of this clandestine unit is Lieutenant Colonel Nathanael Ahouman. End Summary. ¶2. (C) The following is a paraphrase of a statement made by an Ivorian presidential bodyguard during a private meeting with Embassy officers in Accra. The Ivorian has been in hiding in Accra for several weeks and has been granted refugee status; he will be departing Accra for the U.S. soon. He uses third person, is often unclear about his allegations, and rambles on at length about fighting his would-be assassins. Washington contacts may be able to debrief him further when he arrives in the U.S. POC: Jennifer Christenson in PRM/A, tel 202-663-1050. ¶3. (C) Begin Text: The new security directors feel obliged to take my life, because I know too much about their practices (massive human rights violations, including kidnappings and killings, which no investigation by an international organization has yet been able to discover). This is their method of directing security for the President. I need to be resettled for safety,s sake, following failed assassination attempts against me and other employees of the presidency. Arrangements to assassinate me in my home came from within the offices of the Ivorian presidency, an assassination planned by high-ranking persons responsible for presidential security. The Facts -------------- During the early morning hours of Wednesday, June 2, 2004, I was not expecting anything unusual, but my life was saved only by the grace of God after armed killers of the Republic descended upon my residence. I should note first that I have faithfully served the state since the era of Feliz Houphoet Boigny, Bedie, Guei and now Gbagbo, as part of the GSPR (Group for the Safety of the Presidency of the Republic),the official and legal security unit created in 1996. I spent my military career without the least reproach from my superiors as an assiduous soldier who was respectful of constitutional law. For the alleged good of the new Republic of Cote d,Ivoire, several &security8 units were created by some individuals with special interests, leading to chronic insecurity at all levels of Ivorian society. The government created a unit parallel to the GSPR that fell under the authority of certain high-level GSPR officers, including Lieutenant Colonel Nathanael Ahouman B. This group was charged with carrying out clandestine missions ordered by Gbagbo, his wife, and the leaders of the FPI. This parallel unit that did not officially exist would take control of the GSPR and initiated my attempted assassination. About two in the morning on June 2, five men in military uniform, armed with Kalashnikovs and assault rifles, wearing black clothes bearing the GSPR emblem, broke into the kitchen of my residence as if they were professionals. They then climbed the staircase and cornered my youngest son. The intruders warned the child to keep silent and to respond to their questions. The Guerrilla: Where is your father? The Child: He is not here; he is away on a mission. This response so irritated them that one in the group raised his voice and yelled, &You are lying! We were told that he is in the house.8 Oddly, during the morning of June 1, I had received a phone call from Koula Doh, a Sergeant Major with the police force, who asked about my location. Yet Doh had no friendship with me, which I found intriguing. After this question, they led the child into the hall and shoved him against the wall. With difficulty the child said, &I told you he is on a mission,8 and asked, &Did you see his car here?8 The absence of the car seemed to confound them. Angrily, the killers questioned each other about the mission in these terms: &But why did he not verify this and ask us to come?8 This admission revealed the truth about who orchestrated the murders in Abidjan and who executed them. Other examples of recent killings include: - The murder of: General Guei, whose torturers still form part of the President,s close security unit. - The assassination of the Captain Dosso (Aide-de-camp of ADO (Ouattara)) - The assassination of the Fabien Captain and the family of General Guei - The assassination of Mr. Coulibaly Herve - Owners of the Mercedes 600 (sold today in Ghana) and of the 4X4 Cherokee of ADO to the palace (used by karate expert Bai Patrice) - Wholesale slaughter of the protesters of 25-26 March, ¶2004. The intruders then made the child show them my room. When my wife heard the cries of the child and moved toward the door, a guerrilla was waiting with a weapon pointed toward her. She was thrown into the hall near the two other guerrillas posted in the corridor. There, she was told to explain her husband,s &mission,8 while fearing the worst for herself and her children. She courageously kept silent and prayed to God that nothing worse would happen. Hand-to-hand Combat -------------- I awoke at the sound of violence in the hallway and, rather than taking the time to deploy my weapon, I resolved to engage in hand-to-hand combat. Seeing the silhouette of the first killer entering the room, I managed to punch him in the face and knock him to the floor behind the two others. This attack occurred during the night, which the organizers wanted because there would be no witnesses. In the course of this struggle, the largest guerrilla lost his left little finger and stayed behind so that the others could attack. This combat on the second floor of my house continued into the living room, as we tumbled down the staircase. One of the first guerrillas to regain his footing seized his P.A. and ordered me to lie down so that he could shoot me. I answered that I would prefer to die on my feet. At this moment, the idea came to me to make him believe that I had reinforcements. I shouted, &Wait! Don,t kill me!8 When the guerrilla diverted his glance, I gave his arm a kick. The weapon flew from his hand and landed not far from the one who was missing a finger; he seized his weapon and fired in my direction. The bullet merely grazed my scalp. Believing I had been injured, they looked for a light switch. I bounded upstairs to my room, where I had time to arm myself and fire a burst. When they heard the noise, my killers fled, saying, &He has a gun.8 After this scene I received threatening phone calls. For my safety, I had to change phones, but the person who kept my old phone number continued to receive threats such as, &You think you have won, but it is not over. Next time you will not be allowed to leave.8 The call came from a cellular phone box located at Yopougon Toits Rouge, in the district where I lived before moving to Cocody. Following this incident, several questions arose concerning our brother soldiers who are of the same ethnic group as the current President. The current mantle of power is exercising ethnic favoritism among government positions. However, this policy is based on intimidation, subjugation, the &purchase of consciences,8 and the elimination of those thought to constitute an embarrassment to Laurent Gbagbo. Such moral failings were decried in 1990 upon the advent of multiparty democracy in Cote d,Ivoire, but massive human rights violations, particularly kidnappings, increased. (For example, the last attempt to kill Mr. Bedie at his residence at Daoukro, during the first vacation President Gbagbo took in Yamoussoukro, where the MIG 24 launched toward his home failed because the government did not have the support of ground troops, which an officer of the GSPR had ordered). I refused to participate in this act, because it was one of Ahouman,s ideas. Such are the intrigues of President Laurent Gbagbo,s entourage, which now imperil the Republic with the assistance of death squads that are well known to certain secret Ivorian units. End Text. YATES