[Pages S2241-S2243]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

COTE D'IVOIRE

Mr. INHOFE. That is not why I am here, however. I want to be sure
that something I have been talking about over the last days has now
come to a peak where we must do something.
I have been concerned about what is happening in Cote d'Ivoire, in
west Africa. I am very close to the situation. I have had occasion to
be there over the last few years nine different times. I know the
President is there, the current President and his wife, Laurent and
Simone Gbagbo. I was familiar with the election that came around, so I
have been on the floor talking about what I believe should happen
there, that we should call for a new election. Unfortunately, the
United States and our State Department--I will be very critical of
them--have joined with the United Nations and with France in taking the
side of Alassane Ouattara from the north who was the challenger, who
has been challenging this administration now for at least 10 years that
I know of.
I got a scathing reply from the Ambassador to the United States from
France. I am not going to read it. I am not going to enter it into the
Record. It doesn't make any sense. I only wish to respond to a couple
of things in that letter. First of all, they talk about the fact that
this was a legitimate election and it was certified properly and it was
in accordance with the Constitution of Cote d'Ivoire, and I don't
believe that. I will respond to that by saying the independent
electoral commission did not fulfill its constitutional mandate to
announce the final provision vote tallies within 3 days. That is what
the Constitution says in the country of Cote d'Ivoire and west Africa.
It announced then, almost 16 hours after it was constitutionally
mandated, to report them to the Constitutional Council. It is my
understanding it is the Constitutional Council of Cote d'Ivoire and not
the electoral commission which certifies and declares the winner of
Presidential elections.
On three occasions now I have talked about this election and the
abuses that were taking place. In one case we had information that was
given to me by members of the opposing party to President Gbagbo where
they submitted that in one of the five regions in the north--let's keep
in mind the challenger, Ouattara, is from the north, a Muslim area up
there. They had, in five of these regions--in one of them--149,598--and
I showed how it was calculated. I showed the actual results that were
there from the electoral process, and this was just one of five
northern cities. But when the total was officially reported in the
total vote column, Ouattara received 244,000 votes, a difference of
almost 95,000 votes.
If you do your math and you say this happened in all five of these
areas in northern Cote d'Ivoire, that would be more than enough to
declare--enough mistakes that would take the election away from the
duly reelected President, President Gbagbo. If you don't want to get
into the weeds that far, all you have to do is look at the results they
had. In that election they came out with the results that said Gbagbo
in those northern precincts--we call them precincts, they call them
something else--that they actually had thousands and thousands of votes
in what we would call the primary, but when the primary runoff came up,
he got zero votes. That is a statistical impossibility. So I have given
all those things to our State Department, and I haven't gotten any
positive response.
In the accusations in the letter the French say he refused to
accept--he being Gbagbo--refused to accept proposals by the African
union, a high-level group, while these proposals have been formally
accepted by President Ouattara. It is not true, just flat not true. As
late as March 27 the African Union sent former Cape Verde Foreign
Minister Jose Brito to mediate between Ouattara and Gbagbo. Gbagbo
accepted the mediation, Ouattara didn't.
I have a whole list of the accusations that were made and my response
to these accusations, and I am going to be submitting them at this
portion in my presentation in lieu of reading them at this time. I ask
unanimous consent that they be printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:

Inhofe Fact Check on French Embassy ``Fact Sheet''

(From the French Ambassador, April 6, 2011)

French say:
Fact Sheet on Cote d'Ivoire
(April 6, 2011)
``After many delays, including on the part of then-
President Laurent Gbagbo, a presidential election was held in
Cote d'Ivoire last fall. Since then, its results have been
certified by the local monitoring mission and acknowledged by
the international community, including the United States, the
European Union (EU), the Economic Community of West Africa
States (ECOWAS), and the African Union (AU).''
Inhofe responds:
In fact the Independent Electoral Commission did not
fulfill its constitutional mandate to announce the final
provisional vote tallies within three days. It announced them
almost 16 hours after it was constitutionally mandated to
report them to the Constitutional Council. And it is my
understanding, that it is the Constitutional Council of Cote
d'Ivoire and not the Electoral Commission which certifies and
declares the winner of presidential elections. It seems that
this election was not carried out in accordance with the
constitution of Cote d'Ivoire.
In addition, there is evidence of massive electoral fraud
in the rebel held north. I submitted this evidence in two
letters to Secretary Clinton and am awaiting a response to
these specific allegations.
I also submitted an electoral document showing official
regional electoral returns, where it shows Ouattara receiving
a total 149,598 from one of five northern cities. But when
the total is officially reported in the total vote column,
Ouattara receives 244,471; a difference of 94,873 votes!
The evidence submitted to Secretary Clinton includes
tallies of precincts where, in the first round of voting,
President Laurent Gbagbo received multiple thousands of
votes, but in the second round he received zero votes. That
is a statistical impossibility.

[[Page S2242]]

From all the evidence I now have gathered, I am convinced
that it is mathematically impossible for President Gbagbo to
have lost the election by several hundred thousand votes. And
if a similar amount of fraud exists in the other four regions
of the rebel-held north, Gbagbo is actually the winner of the
presidential election.
French say:
``Since the results, former President Laurent Gbagbo has
not only refused to acknowledge the results, and listen to
the will of the people of Cote d'Ivoire, but actually
dismissed several initiatives, including by the AU, ECOWAS
and other African leaders, to avert any bloodshed and find a
peaceful solution of the crisis. Most recently, he again
refused to accept proposals by the AU High Level Group, while
these proposals have been formally accepted by President
Ouattara.''
Inhofe responds:
Not true. As late as March 27, the African Union sent
former Cape Verde foreign minister Jose Brito to mediate
between Ouattara and Gbagbo. Gbagbo accepted the mediation,
but Ouattara rejected it!
French say:
``This deadlock has precipitated a deterioration of the
humanitarian situation. In addition, it has led to growing
violence, of which the first victims have been civilians, in
spite of the presence on the ground of the U.N. Operation in
Cote d'Ivoire (UNOCI). It is in this context that the United
Nations Security Council adopted its Resolution 1975 on March
30. This decision was adopted unanimously, including with a
positive vote from the United States and the three African
members of the Council (namely, Gabon, Nigeria and South
Africa). It stresses the protection of civilians, and the
need to prevent the use of heavy weapons in this regard, as a
key element of the impartial implementation of UNOCI's
mandate.''
Inhofe responds:
There is no evidence that President Gbagbo ordered the
shelling or killing of civilians in Abidjan or throughout the
country. He has repeatedly denied it, and it is in fact
actions by forces under the control of Ouattara who have
carried out military and terrorist actions. This consisted
of attacks upon police and Army forces by ``invisible
commandos'' and the outright offensive launched from the
north that has led to the present crisis.
French say:
``In Cote d'Ivoire, French forces are acting on the basis
of an international mandate given by U.N. Security Council,
in support to the internationally constituted U.N.
peacekeeping operation (UNOCI).''
Inhofe responds:
Focus should be on the word ``peacekeeping''.
Unfortunately, the United Nations and French forces are not
engaging in peace-keeping, but war-making.
French say:
``Most recently, their intervention has been strictly
consistent with Resolution 1975, and responded to a request
to President Sarkozy by UN Secretary-General Ban with a view
to support UNOCI as it enforces its mandate. In particular,
French forces' intervention in Abidjan has been strictly
consistent with this goal, and designed to neutralize the
heavy weapons used against civilian populations and UN
personnel in Abidjan.''
Inhofe responds:
Not true. Abidjan is a densely populated city of four
million people. In this urban environment, the collateral
damage caused by the attacks by UN and French attack
helicopters and ground troops has caused hundreds if not
thousands of civilian casualties. Specifically, hundreds of
youths supportive of President Gbagbo formed a human shield
around the presidential palace in an attempt to halt the
Ouaratta and French offensive. No one knows how many of these
youths have been killed by UN and French forces.
French say:
``In the context of its commitment to the protection of
civilians and the fight against impunity in Cote d'Ivoire, as
in the rest of Africa and worldwide, France reiterated its
calls for an immediate halt to all violence against
civilians, and underscored that the perpetrators of these
crimes must be held accountable before a court of law. France
welcomes President Ouattara's pledge in this regard.''
Inhofe responds:
The only reported slaughter of civilians has been
perpetrated by Ouattara forces. This occurred in the western
town of Duekoue where up to 1000 people were massacred by the
Dozos, traditional hunters who fought alongside Ouattara
forces. This has been confirmed by the United Nations and
Human Rights Watch.
French say:
``France is looking forward to the end of the current
violence, and hopes that the constitutional and democratic
order will eventually prevail. It is for president Ouattara
and the people of Cote d'Ivoire to find the political
solutions that will favor a democratic, peaceful, prosperous
and reconciled nation.''
Inhofe responds:
Not true. President Gbagbo has called for an immediate
cease-fire several times and has been ignored by Ouattara,
the UN and French forces. The killings can come to an
immediate end if these forces agree to a cease-fire.
Conclusion:
This past Wednesday, April 6, marked the 17th anniversary
of the 1994 Rwandan genocide. We now know that UN General
Secretary Koffi Annan and others knew of the extend of this
violence early on, but did nothing about it.
We all want to prevent another genocide from occurring.
That is why the United States must call for an immediate
ceasefire to prevent Ouattara and his rebel army from
committing more mass slaughters of the Ivoirians.
Lastly, I renew my request to Senate Foreign Relations
Committee Chairman Kerry requesting that he convene a hearing
as soon as possible into the atrocities committed by forces
loyal to rebel leader Ouattara, as well as into what I
believe were flawed elections that gave legitimacy to his
claim of the presidency.

Mr. INHOFE. I came to the conclusion that on Wednesday, April 6--that
marked the 17th anniversary of the terrible thing that happened in
Rwanda, the genocide--and we have information that actually Secretary
General Kofi Annan had knowledge of that. It wasn't shared. We didn't
have warning, and we all know 800,000-plus people were brutally
murdered in Rwanda during that genocide.
What I wish to do now is make sure we are on record in warning the
United States, France, and the United Nations what is going on right
now.
First of all, if we look--they say it is all decided, everyone has
made up their minds, yet President Obiang--President Obiang of
Equatorial Guinea. He is also the current President of the African
Union, or the chief of the African Union. He is on record saying that
Africa must be allowed to manage its own affairs, and this is a quote:

Africa does not need any external influence. Africa must
manage its own affairs.

This is the President who is the head right now of the African Union.
President Sarkozy has said--so there is no doubt about whether he has
authorized his troops to go in there and participate in these raids
that have taken place, two of them that I will describe in a minute.
French President--this is reported on BBC News--Nicolas Sarkozy said in
a statement he had authorized 1,600 strong French Licorne forces in the
country.
That shows definitely, and I don't think anyone is questioning that.
Here is another one:

One source said soldiers from a 1,000-strong French Licorne
force--

This is a very strong force--

in the Ivory Coast has been deployed in Zone 4, in the south
of the city.

I think also it is important to see that France has authorized its
military--and I am reading now from the same report:

France has authorized its military to participate in a
United Nations operation in the Ivory Coast to protect
civilians against escalating violence there. The Elysee
Palace said the operation aimed to neutralize heavy weapons
belonging to troops loyal to President Gbagbo.

So he is talking about sending them in. Of course, I think most of
us--I will go ahead and read one more thing here that I think is
significant: ``French helicopters opened fire on a military camp in
Abidjan on Monday.''
That is going to go down in history as ``Black Monday.''
If anyone wants to see what was happening with helicopters and
rockets firing on all kinds of targets near the palace in the residence
in Abidjan of Ouattara, go to my Web site. We have pictures of that.

Earlier, French President Nicholas Sarkozy said he had
authorized France's military to join a U.N. operation against
forces loyal to Ivory Coast's Laurent Gbagbo.

So, clearly, they are the ones who had--I want to say this: There are
two major assaults on Cote d'Ivoire. I mistakenly thought that the
French were involved in the one in a city called Duekoue. I find out
later that they weren't. They were supporting, of course, Ouattara--the
forces that were there, but they did not have a direct participation in
it. A man named Guillaume Ngefa, who is the head of the United Nations
mission in Cote d'Ivoire, said that Ouattara's forces had carried out
the killings in Duekoue, and we have pictures--I am quoting them now:

We have pictures. We have evidence. This is retaliation.

[[Page S2243]]

That is what the deputy head of the mission in Cote d'Ivoire of the
United Nations mission said.
Then: ``We have credible reports of serious abuses being committed by
Ouattara's side.'' That came from Corinne Dufka, a Human Rights Watch
researcher based in Dakar, Senegal. It is raising very serious
concerns.
Then further quotes. It goes on and on. I will enter all of these
quotes into the Record.
But the bottom line here is that Ouattara's forces are the ones that
were involved in Duekoue when they--the estimate they have right here
is that--it comes from Patrick Nicholson, a spokesman for the Catholic
aid agency Caritas, saying that an agency team in town last week on a
routine aid mission had found a lot of dead bodies. ``We estimate
between 800 and 1,000 dead,'' Nicholson said in a telephone interview
from Rome.

They are primarily killed by gunshot, though some of the
wounds were made by machetes. I don't think they were killed
in crossfire.

It is interesting, because the forces of President Gbagbo had left
that area of Duekoue a week before all of that happened. So that had to
have happened with those forces that were Ouattara's. Well, anyway, I
am still quoting from this, which was printed in the Washington Post:

Ouattara's forces have also been accused of carrying out
reprisal killings and extrajudicial executions of prisoners
during their march to the capital.

Gbagbo's forces had vacated a week before.
We have pictures showing the French flags that were on the major
massacre that took place and that was the one that took place on Monday
night. I have already said all of this on the floor. We have talked
about this and the problems.
One thing I haven't mentioned is one of the first things Ouattara did
when he marched on Cote d'Ivoire in the south and on Abidjan is to turn
to release all of the prisoners in one of the major Abidjan prisons--
that is some 5,000 prisoners--and military sources loyal to the
incumbent leader Gbagbo said the doors of the MACA prison--that is the
big prison in that area--were opened by forces loyal to the President,
Presidential claimant Alassane Ouattara, in the midst of an offensive
aimed at Gbagbo.
Afterwards, they go into detail as to hearing the gunfire; in other
words, releasing prisoners to fight against the sitting President.
Residents near the jail said thousands of youths streamed out of the
prison, which had the capacity of 3,000 prisoners, but was believed to
be holding over 5,000, into the neighborhood in Abidjan.

We heard gun fire early this morning and afterwards the
doors of the prison were opened and prisoners were left
shouting for joy.

That is something I have not had in the Record before.
One of the things I have to repeat that I have stated before--let me
ask the Chair how much time I have remaining.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator has 1 minute remaining.
Mr. INHOFE. I request an additional 10 minutes.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. INHOFE. I wish to speak about one of the testimonials in Duekoue.

I spot four pigs eating something dark in a charred
courtyard. Standing by a newly dug mass grave, a UN soldier
from Morocco is choking with rage and grief. I asked him if
any of the dead are children. He nods and begins to sob,
quietly, into his facemask.

This is something that has been happening again. We talked about this
before. I don't want to abuse the time we have, but a few minutes ago I
got a notice from somebody I happen to know and he says:

I must admit that it was very difficult. This day too--

we are talking about in the last few hours--

has been very confusing with the rebels parading in the
streets stealing and dispossessing people of their goods.
This is what makes it very dangerous because it is a no law
zone. Hundreds of people have started leaving town avoiding
the danger in Abidjan.

That is what is happening right now. The report we have now recently
is that the Ouattara rebel army is deploying death squads, and I will
read from this because I think it is very important that we get this
down right, because I am going to make some accusations here that maybe
have never been made in recent history on this floor.

I have just received devastating news about the situation
in Cote d'Ivoire.
I have been told that there are ``death squads'' roving
around the streets of Abidjan ``disappearing''--

they used the word ``disappearing''

supporters of President Gbagbo.

Do they kill the supporters of President Gbagbo? Probably so, but
they use the word ``disappearing'' because there is no accounting of
it.

These death squads are led by soldiers of Ouattara's rebel
Army. They have already killed 400 people in the last few
hours.

I am talking about contemporary, right now.

If we do nothing, this soon will include the murder of
President Gbagbo and his wife Simone. Ouattara's armed rebels
are supported militarily by the United Nations and the French
government. I call on UN Secretary General Ban Kee Moon and
French President Sarkozy to condemn and halt immediately
these ``death squads.'' If they do not, I charge that they
are complicit in allowing these death squads to operate
freely on the streets of Abidjan.

It also calls for immediate cease-fire.
I will conclude and say that I remember well, because I was around
when this happened, and when we knew--some people knew, we didn't know
in advance, what was going to happen in Rwanda. President Kagame didn't
know what was going to happen in Rwanda. Kofi Annan of the United
Nations apparently did know what was going to happen and elected not to
say anything about it, so that they weren't warned and 800,000
mutilations later, we know what the genocide was all about. We know
now. We know the death squads are there. The death squads have already
killed, according to these reports, some 4,000 people in the last few
hours.
If we don't do anything about it, I have in my own mind--I feel very
certain that those death squads run by Ouattara's rebel army will reach
the hiding place of President Gbagbo and his wife Simone and their
family, and they, too, will be murdered. If we don't do anything, we
have been warned that can happen. We can intervene and stop the death
squads roaming around in Abidjan in the country of Cote D'Ivoire.
With that, I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The assistant editor of the Daily Digest proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. INHOFE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for
the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. INHOFE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to be recognized
as in morning business until such time as somebody else comes in and
wants the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

____________________