[ad_1]
Odette Klahon took the witness stand, her burgundy red scarf as a sign of mourning, then recounted the violence of ten years ago which left her without her husband, her grandson and her left hand.
“In the Carrefour district, they wasted no time, breaking down the doors, looking for able-bodied men,” the woman in her sixties said Thursday with the help of a translator, describing her place of residence. in the town of Duekoue in western Côte d’Ivoire.
“It was during these disturbances that my husband was arrested and executed in front of me.”
She went on to describe how her “executioner” overcame her resistance to taking her four-year-old grandson, knocking the boy out with a piece of wood and pulling Klahon’s hand.
“My grandson died on the spot and I was able to flee to find safety with the Catholic mission in the city, my hand in blood and through bodies,” she said, adding that her hand had was amputated later.
Klahon’s testimony came during the trial of former militia leader Amade Oueremi, on the dock following the massacres perpetrated in Duekoue in 2011 following the contested presidential election in the country.
Duekoue was the scene of the worst massacres in the region during a post-election crisis in 2010-2011.
Known as “The Lord,” the 57-year-old’s trial began on March 24 in an Abidjan court on charges of mass murder. He faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
Oueremi was at the head of a militia that fought against rival groups and forces loyal to former President Laurent Gbagbo and said they were acting in self-defense.
The charges relate in particular to the violence of March 28, 2011 in the Carrefour district of Duekoue, where 817 people were killed in one day, according to the Red Cross. The United Nations estimated the toll at 300.
Gbagbo was finally forced to resign after refusing to accept his defeat to the current president, Alassane Ouattara. The conflict, which lasted for months, left some 3,000 dead and divided the country along north-south lines.
The former president was tried by the International Criminal Court but acquitted – a decision upheld on March 31, paving the way for Gbagbo’s return to his home country.
Meanwhile, Oueremi awaits his fate in Abidjan.
‘Gunshots everywhere’
Another witness to her trial, Myriam Koulade, spoke of the horror she faced.
“We heard gunshots everywhere,” she said.
“We were among the 40 people in our house to take shelter from the shooting.”
The next morning, March 29, 2011, “they started going into houses looking for men and making threats,” We will kill your husbands and go with you. You will be our wives. “”
Oueremi expressed his surprise at being alone in the dock, saying his group was fighting in self-defense. By SIA KAMBOU (AFP) She said the neighborhood had been locked down by gunmen wearing charms, businesses looted and homes set on fire.
While going to seek refuge at the Catholic mission, her husband Bakoue Leon, 54, was killed “in front of my eyes” with her nephew, she said.
The two women were among nine testimonies, describing bodies scattered around the neighborhood and accusing Oueremi’s men, who they said were armed with Kalashnikov rifles, machetes and sickles, their faces painted black.
Western Côte d’Ivoire, a large cocoa-producing region, was one of the hot spots of the 2010-2011 post-election crisis.
According to the UN and other international organizations, the takeover of Duékoué in March 2011 by pro-Ouattara forces was accompanied by large-scale massacres.
The political crisis unfolded against a backdrop of land disputes and led to community violence between the pro-Gbagbo Gueres ethnic group and other residents, including mostly pro-Ouattara northern Dyulas and Burkinabè immigrants.
With a protective mask over his mouth, a worn t-shirt, black pants and sandals, Oueremie expressed his surprise at being alone on the dock.
“I cannot pay for the others on my own. I was part of the FRCI (rebel forces that took the city),” he said.
“We were fighting the Liberians and the pro-Gbagbo militias who spread terror in the region. They killed us and we also killed them in their homes.”
Source link
