Amnesty International urged Ivory Coast authorities to immediately provide the required support measures to the thousands of Ivorian citizens who have been evicted from their homes since January 2024, according to a report published on Wednesday. The NGO also called for the respect of human rights principles and the suspension of the mass evictions of citizens in Abidjan until the implementation of safeguards against forced eviction.

Ivorian Authorities have been conducting demolition and eviction operations since February in the district of Abidjan in preparation for the worrying phenomena of floods, landslides and collapses which occur during the rainy season. This decision concerned 176 sites considered to be at high risk of flooding which includes the neighbourhoods of Gesco, Boribana, Banco 1 and Abattoir.

The report revealed that Ivorian authorities didn’t comply with human rights standards when conducting eviction operations. According to the Executive Director of Amnesty International Côte d’Ivoire,” the authorities have clearly failed to meet their human rights obligations including those deriving from the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), ratified by Côte d’Ivoire”. These standards include the protection of citizens from forced eviction, the prior notice of the demolition decision, the reception of fair compensation for their losses and the provision of adequate alternative housing.

The NGO reported an excessive use of violence during the demolition of the mentioned neighbourhoods. This includes the brutalisation of people, the use of tear gas and the conduction of the destruction during an inappropriate time of the day by the police. An Ivorian resident of the neighbourhood of Gesco said that the police arrived to demolish his house at 11 PM and stayed until 2 AM, which is contrary to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights. According to the mentioned charter, eviction operations must be conducted during the day and with respect for the dignity of those concerned.

Ivory Coast authorities also violated their obligations under the UN Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials and the UN Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials. The first states that the use of force by state authorities is allowed only when it’s strictly necessary and in compliance with the principle of proportionality, while the second enumerates the cases where law enforcement officials can opt for the use of force and firearms.

Moreover, the testimonies of the evicted Ivorian families, who according to Amnesty International were “forcibly evicted”, revealed that they didn’t receive prior notice of the eviction and were not informed on the options of alternative housing, which is a human right granted by the UN’s Basic Principles and guidelines on development-based evictions and displacement. The country’s authorities also failed to pay the promised compensation for landowners and displaced families.

While the Ivorian government managed to rehouse 256 people, the majority of evicted people refused the government’s rehousing proposals because the relocation site was too far from their original residence, which affects the source of livelihood of those evicted, especially farmers. The latter lost their lands, enclosures and fishponds due to the demolition which deprived them from their ony source of livelihood.

The destruction also included schools, wich deprived children of their right to education. Some children have been out of school for months and others have even stopped thier studies in order to work and help support their families.