MORE DETAILS ON PILOT IDENTIFICATION PROGRAM

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ABIDJAN 000515

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/15/2016
TAGS: PGOV PREL ASEC KPKO IV
SUBJECT: MORE DETAILS ON PILOT IDENTIFICATION PROGRAM

REF: A. ABIDJAN 0495


B. ABIDJAN 0500

Classified By: Poloff Phaedra Gwyn for reasons 1.4 b&d


1. (U) Summary: More details about the pilot identification
process emerged on May 15, during a press conference by the
Minister of Justice, Mamadou Kone. The pilot identification
program will target anyone over 13 years of age who is
without documents. Once the pilot phase has ended, the
Ministry will begin planning for a nation-wide rollout, which
would not begin until the first week of June at the earliest.
Nationwide, according to Kone, there are 3.5 million
undocumented Ivoirians and foreigners living in Cote
d'Ivoire. (Note: current population estimate is 17.6
million.) If an applicant is determined to meet the
standards for Ivoirian citizenship, he/she will receive a
nationality certificate after a 48-hour waiting period. This
nationality certificate will become the sole document that
will be accepted as proof of citizenship for the purposes of
obtaining a national identity card. Although the Ivoirian
Government is calling this a pilot identification program, it
is important to note that no identification cards will be
issued at this time, only birth and nationality certificates.
End Summary.


2. (U) The first hurdle for the undocumented born in the
seven pilot locations will be to return to their home
villages and remain there during the week of the pilot
project. This requirement will be particulary burdensome on
those displaced from the North to the South, as they will
have to pass through multiple checkpoints and the Zone of
Confidence to return to their place of birth. At each of
pilot location, two Ministry of Justice magistrates will hold
hearings to determine nationality. Applicants will be
expected to provide any available family documentation and,
if necessary, to produce witnesses from the village who can
attest to their birth. A doctor will examine each applicant
to fix the year of birth. If the applicant is able to prove
to the magistrates that he/she was born in Cote d,Ivoire,
they will accord him/her an Ivoirian birth certificate.


3. (U) Once the relevant facts - applicant's name, parents,
names, parents, nationalities, and year of birth - are
established, the magistrates will determine whether the
applicant has a right to Ivoirian nationality. Birth in Cote
d,Ivoire does not automatically accord Ivoirian nationality.
Since 1972, to claim Ivoirian citizenship, a child must have
at least one parent of Ivoirian nationality (acquired at
birth or by naturalization). If the applicant was born in
Cote d'Ivoire but does not qualify for Ivoirian citizenship,
he will be issued a birth certificate only. Those who do
qualify as citizens will be eligible for a nationality
certificate. According to Minister Kone, this nationality
certificate will be the sole document accepted for purposes
of issuing national identity cards at a date yet to be
specified.


4. (SBU) During the press conference, the majority of the
questions concerned fraud. Kone replied that there was no
way to prevent all fraud, but, to have as clean a process as
possible, birth certificates will have a hologram affixed to
them, and nationality certificates will each have a unique
bar code. In addition, the list of applicants accorded
Ivoirian birth and nationality certificates will be posted on
a website and hard-copies of the list will be posted within
the village for 48 hours before the certificates are issued.
Anyone wishing to denounce an application as fraudulent must
do so during the 48-hour waiting period. Kone stated that
applicants found to have committed fraud will be prosecuted
but he did not indicate what would occur to someone who
brings a false accusation against an applicant.


5. (SBU) Other questions focused on the reason why
"foreigners" would be allowed to participate and why the
thousands of citizens who already have birth certificates but
no nationality certificates, or whose identity papers have
been lost or stolen, cannot take part. Minister Kone
explained that anyone born in Cote d'Ivoire, whether
foreigner or Ivoirian, is entitled to a birth certificate.
Only Ivoirians will receive nationality certificates and
eventually national identity cards. During this pilot
program foreigners will receive birth certificates only,
which they can then use to apply for residency cards at an
unspecified future time. Kone stated that there would be a
separate process of identification, also at a time not yet
specified, for those who have either limited documentation
(e.g., birth certificate but no nationality certificate) or
who have lost their documents.


6. (U) Only persons thirteen years of age or older will be
allowed to participate in the pilot project because the

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Ivoirian Government, in partnership with UNICEF, already has
a similar program of identity "fairs" to document children
under thirteen. Since 2003, UNICEF has paid the travel and
administrative costs for Ivoirian magistrates, court clerks,
and doctors (to estimate the children's ages) to issue birth
certificates in various cities of Cote d'Ivoire, including
San Pedro, Abidjan, and Yamoussoukro, to children between the
ages of three months to 13 years. The last fair, held in
November/December 2005 in the town of Aboisso, registered
over 13,850 children. UNICEF is currently discussing with
the Minister of Justice the logistics of holding a fair in
the rebel-controlled zone.


7. (C) COMMENT: The pilot project is a small step toward the
issuance of identification cards. Although it represents
modest progress, there are many potential political and
technical pitfalls ahead. In particular, the process of
issuing identity cards will apparently not even begin until
the 3.5 million undocumented residents receive their
certificates. This will mean a long delay in the
identification and voter registration programs that must be
completed before proceeding with elections. END COMMENT
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