United Nations must step in to end Ivory Coast bloodbath

It has been almost three months since a legitimate election in the West African nation of Ivory Coast resulted in the defeat of the president, Laurent Gbagbo. But the only thing that has changed in the nation of 21 million is the smell — from tranquility to death. And the purveyor of death is Gbagbo, who refuses to abide by the results of the voting and step down. The winner of the election was opposition leader Alassane Ouattara

What’s happening in Ivory Coast certainly does not compare in importance with the ouster of Egypt’s leader, Hosni Mubarak, as a result of a popular uprising, or the spread of this revolutionary fervor to other Arab countries governed by dictators. But, when innocent people are killed by the hundreds because of their political leanings, the world community through the United Nations must respond. It is telling that U.N. officials were expelled from the country after the vote tally was announced.

But, an investigation by the Associated Press of the mass murders makes clear that the world organization has a moral responsibility to go in with force to end the blood lust, force Gbagbo to relinquish the reins of powers and install Outtara as the president. The Ivorians have spoken.

Here’s how the AP led its story about the Ivory Coast vote killings:

“The entrance to the morgue is like a mouth through which comes an awful smell. It hits you as far back as the parking lot and makes your eyes water. From a dozen yards away, it’s strong enough to make you throw up.

“What lies inside is proof of mass killings in this once tranquil country of 21 million, where the sitting president is refusing to give way to his successor.”

The wire service obtained records from four of the nine morgues in the capital, Abidjan, that show 113 bullet-ridden bodies have been brought in since the election. The AP was refused access to the five other morgues, including one where the United Nations believes as many as 80 bodies were taken.

Muslims

Who are the dead? They are supporters of the president-elect and their names indicate they are mostly Muslim from the country’s north. Ouattara is a Muslim from the North; Gbagbo is an evangelical Christian who is accused of having purged Muslims from the armed forces. Indeed, a confidential 2004 United Nations report obtained by the AP detailed the rise of government death squads that in 2002 started carrying out “disappearance” of people seen as a threat to the president. The U.N. obtained a video cassette showing as many as 200 cadavers strewn across the road in one locality, the AP reported.

And yet, when the election was over and the president refused to step down, the international community did little more than pay lip service to the desires of the people.

With his history of eliminating his detractors, why has the United Nations been so careful in dealing with this brutal dictator?

The United States also bears some responsibility for what is taking place in Ivory Coast, seeing as how President Obama, like his predecessor, George W. Bush, has made the spread of democracy a centerpiece of his foreign policy.

It’s one thing to encourage free and open elections; it’s quite another to adopt a hands-off attitude once the votes are counted and the will of the people ignored.