NCJ Number
239393
Journal
International Journal of Comparative and Applied Criminal Justice Volume: 36 Issue: 1 Dated: February 2012 Pages: 61-73
Date Published
February 2012
Length
13 pages
Annotation
This paper examines the issues of crime and punishment in the years leading up to and during the civil war in Cote d'Ivoire.
Abstract
Falling commodity prices in Cote d'Ivoire's primary products (cocoa and coffee) and the resulting austerity measures imposed by the government as part of the structural adjustment measures demanded by the Paris Club, the International Monetary Fund, and the London Club along with the death of the first president of the country, Mr.Felix Houphouet-Boigny, turned the once peaceful country into a war zone. This paper examines the issues of crime and punishment in the years leading up to and during the civil war. Available information indicate that the "politics of exclusion" which followed the death of President Houphouet-Boigny led to ethnic hatred, ethnic cleansing, religious intolerance, xenophobic rhetoric, human rights violations, brutal rapes and other forms of sexual violence, armed robberies, and extra-judicial massacres. The government of Cote d'Ivoire should realize that bringing those responsible for these atrocities to justice, should be a priority. (Published Abstract)