COTE D'IVOIRE: PARTIAL DISMANTLEMENT OF MILITIAS

C O N F I D E N T I A L ABIDJAN 000876

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/03/2016
TAGS: PGOV KPKO ASEC IV
SUBJECT: COTE D'IVOIRE: PARTIAL DISMANTLEMENT OF MILITIAS
YIELDS FEW WEAPONS

REF: ABIDJAN 857 AND PREVIOUS.

Classified By: POL/ECON Jim Wojtasiewicz, Reasons 1.4 (B) and (D).


1. (C) Summary. The dismantling of pro-Gbagbo militias in
western Cote d'Ivoire continues to experience problems. It
appears that only a fraction of the militia members are
included in this program, and very little real disarmament
has yet taken place. End Summary.


2. (C) The dismantling of pro-Gbagbo militias in western Cote
d'Ivoire continues to experience problems. According to
contacts from the UN Office of the Coordinator for
Humanitarian Assistance (OCHA),as of August 2, 830 militia
members had registered, surrendering 89 weapons and 1115
pieces of ammunition. Another 50 reportedly registered
August 3. Many are reportedly surrendering no weapons or
ammunition, and many of the weapons being surrendered are
broken. However, each eligible militia member who registers
is being given CFA 127,000 -- about USD 250. This is one
third of the payment they are to eventually receive for
dismantling.


3. (U) On August 3, General Ouassanan Kone, the government's
overall coordinator for Disarmament, Demobilization and
Reintegration (DDR),held a press conference in Guiglo with
Denis Maho, the principal leader of the four western militia
groups, and Jean-Luc Stallone, head of the ONUCI DDR
department. The conference addressed criticism that too few
weapons are being turned in and that the list of people
eligible to be paid under the dismantlement program includes
many friends and family of local chiefs and excludes many
actual militia members.


4. (C) Kone insisted that the dismantlement program is making
progress, though he acknowledged that it is encountering many
obstacles. Maho emphatically denied that friends and family
of local chiefs are included on the dismantlement list,
underscoring that as "chief of all the chiefs" he cannot
allow this to happen. Rather, Maho explained, confusion has
arisen because not all eligible militia members could be
included on the list. He said the original list of militia
members declared by the four groups had 10,700 names on it.
However, the EU and other donors only had enough money to pay
for the dismantlement of 2,000. The leaders of the four
groups had agreed on a formula to split up the 2,000 slots
among them. Stallone said ONUCI is very concerned by the low
rate of weapons being turned in. He declared that ONUCI
believes that a "one man, one weapon" rule should be applied
but he stopped short of saying that militia members without
weapons should not be paid.


5. (C) The Ambassador was told at a UN briefing earlier in
the week that leaders of the militia groups have promised to
surrender more weapons at a later date. Apparently the
individual militia group members do not have ready access to
weapons that they could turn in on their own.


5. (C) Comment. The situation remains unclear but so far at
least it appears that very little real disarmament of the
militias has yet taken place. End Comment.
Hooks