ConflictBarometer_2016

SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA
community of Digba, Bas Uele, DRC, and abducted 18 civilians.
Throughout the year, a LRA splinter group led by commander
Achaye Doctor carried out abductions, lootings, and
killings of civilians in DRC and CAR. For instance, on October
22, Achaye's group attacked a mining town in Mbomou, CAR,
and abducted 10 civilians.
On the international level, the UNSC put Joseph Kony and his
LRA on a CAR Sanctions Committee list on March 7. The US
also imposed financial sanctions against LRA in March. On
June 28, Uganda announced its withdrawal from the AU-led
Regional Cooperation Initiative for the Elimination of LRA by
the end of the year. On March 26, the ICC confirmed charges
against former LRA commander Dominic Ongwen for committing
war crimes and crimes against humanity. The trial began
on December 6. In February, senior LRA commander and
Kony's bodyguard Okot Odek defected in eastern CAR and
was taken into custody by Ugandan security forces. In the
same month, senior LRA commander ''Sam” was handed over
to US forces by Popular Front for the Central African Renaissance
(FPRC) militants in Haute-Kotto, CAR. ens
CHAD (OPPOSITION)
Intensity: 3 | Change: | Start: 1990
Conflict parties:
Conflict items:
opposition groups vs. government
national power
The violent crisis over national power between the opposition
and the government led by President Idriss Déby Itno and his
Patriotic Salvation Movement (MPS) continued.
The opposition consisted of various political parties, such as
the main opposition party National Union for Development
and Renewal (UNDR), civil society groups, and loosely organized
protesters, mainly students. Although Déby had faced
immense public dissent, he won the presidential elections on
April 10 with approx. 60 percent of the votes, which enabled
his 5th term. he same day, the Constitutional Council invalidated
the presidential candidacy of several persons, among
them Ngarlejy Yorongar, leader of the opposition party Federation,
Action for the Republic, due to irregularities in their
application documents. Yorongar denounced this act as politically
motivated. Eight of the 13 opposition candidates refused
to accept the results, accusing the government of electoral
fraud. However, on May 3, the Constitutional Council
confirmed the result. During the months before the presidential
elections, a series of anti-government protests broke out
across the country, especially after the daughter of an opposition
politician had been kidnapped and raped on February 8,
by at least five men, among them the sons of political and military
leaders. Even though President Déby condemned this
act of sexual violence, opposition groups criticized him for
not rigorously punishing the suspects. On February 15, hundreds
of students took to the streets in the capital N'Djamena,
demanding the government to detain the suspects. In following
clashes, police forces used tear gas to disperse the crowd.
Moreover, they opened fire, leaving one demonstrator dead.
In reaction to these incidents, the government declared a ban
on unauthorized demonstrations three days later, which did
not prevent further protests ahead of the elections. For instance,
on February 22, clashes between anti-rape protesters
and military personnel in Faya Largeau, department of Borkou,
left one protester dead and several injured. Two days later,
an alliance of civil society groups called ''That's Enough” organized
a series of strikes throughout the country in order
to protest against Déby's intention to run for another term.
Between March 21 and April 4, authorities arrested five civil
society activists, accusing them of preparing further antigovernment
demonstrations and thereby undermining public
order.
After the reelection of Déby on April 10, the relation between
opposition groups and the government remained tense. For
instance, on April 18, Saleh Kebzabo, the leader of UNDR, suspected
the MPS of being responsible for the disappearance
of around 60 soldiers who allegedly did not vote for Déby.
In addition, a series of further protests and strikes were reported
in the second half of the year, most of them taking
place in the capital. For instance, on August 7, one day before
the inauguration of Déby, opposition activists protested
in N'Djamena against the reelection of the president, thereby
violating the government's ban on demonstrations. Police
forces dispersed them by using tear gas. Furthermore, they
shot one activist dead after he allegedly had set an MPS flag
on fire. On November 17, security forces arrested around 30
opposition activists during a protest in N'Djamena in which
the latter complained about the country's economic situation.
das
66
CÔTE D'IVOIRE (OPPOSITION)
Intensity: 3 | Change: | Start: 1999
Conflict parties:
Conflict items:
FPI vs. government
national power
The violent crisis over national power between the Alliance
of Democratic Forces (AFD), a coalition of several opposition
parties led by the Ivorian Popular Front (FPI), on the one hand,
and the Rally of the Republicans (RDR) of President Alassane
Ouattara, on the other, continued. This year, the main controversial
issues constituted the preparations of and the referendum
on the new constitution.
On May 31, Ouattara appointed a panel of legal experts in
order to draft a new constitution. On June 7, the president
scheduled the holding of the constitutional referendum for
either September or October. The same day, FPI leader Pascal
Affi N'Guessan criticized Ouattara's endeavor for a new constitution,
demanding to prioritize the continuation of the reconciliation
process concerning the 2011/2012 post-electoral
crisis. However, on July 22, the majority of the parliament
voted in favor of the referendum. On October 5, a proposal
for the new constitution was presented to the parliament and
approved a few days later. Among other things, the newly
drafted constitution provided for the abolition of the nationality
clause and a raising of the upper age limit for presidential
candidates to 75.
Ahead of the constitutional referendum, on October 14, the
AFD announced to boycott the vote, which had been scheduled
for October 30 two days earlier. The AFD stated that the
draft was created in a non-transparent way and only intended