Liberia / Refugees from Cote d'Ivoire / Newly arrived refugee from Cote d'Ivoire wait to be registered by UNHCR at the Bahn Refugee Camp in Liberia. Over 90,000 refugees have arrived in Liberia since a disputed election in Cote d'Ivoire at the end of 2010. / UNHCR / G. Gordon / March 2011

March 25, 2011

Statement by Ambassador Eileen Chamberlain Donahoe

Before the Vote

[Note: The resolution was adopted without by consensus]

Human Rights Council 16th Session

U.S. Statement General Statement on the adoption of the Côte d’Ivoire Resolution

March 25, 2011

Geneva, Switzerland

Thank you, Mr. President.

The United States thanks the African Group and especially the Delegation of Cote D’Ivoire for proposing this very important and timely resolution. As an early Co-Sponsor of both this resolution and the December 23, 2010 Special Session, we hope that as it was the case then it will be adopted by consensus. As we said during the Interactive Dialogue on the 14th of March the situation in Côte d’Ivoire is grave and deteriorating. We deplore the gross abuses of human rights and trampling of fundamental freedoms in Côte d’Ivoire. We fully support this resolution’s call for the immediate establishment of an International Commission of Inquiry and we hope that through their work, all those who lost their lives during this troubled period will find a measure of justice.

I would also like to note that the crisis in Cote D’Ivoire is the result of the inability by Mr. Gbagbo to accept the result of an election which he agreed to hold. This is a challenge to democracy not only in the Ivory Coast and in West Africa, but to the democratic community as a whole. This situation is a critical test for democratic institutions and values across Africa and the United States will continue to support the efforts by the African Union and ECOWAS to resolve the crisis peacefully.

As the State Department’s spokesman noted yesterday the United States has, since the beginning of the political crisis in Côte d’Ivoire, strongly supported African-led efforts to achieve a peaceful transition of power between former President Gbagbo and his elected successor, Alassane Ouattara. I want to once again underline that we firmly stand behind President-elect Ouattara.

Thank you, Mr. President.

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