CPJ is outraged by the 9 April 2000 kidnapping and torture of Jules Toualy, a reporter with the private daily “Le Jeune Democrate”, by two soldiers close to the ruling National Public Salvation Committee (CNSP). Dressed in street clothes but carrying their military identification cards along with pistols and a submachine gun, the two soldiers […]
CPJ is outraged by the 9 April 2000 kidnapping and torture of Jules Toualy, a reporter with the private daily “Le Jeune Democrate”, by two soldiers close to the ruling National Public Salvation Committee (CNSP).
Dressed in street clothes but carrying their military identification cards along with pistols and a submachine gun, the two soldiers walked into the newsroom of “Le Jeune Democrate” at around 2:00 p.m. (local time) on Sunday 9 April, and asked to speak with Toualy. The journalist was then arrested and driven to the Akouedo military barracks, in a suburb of Abidjan, where he was asked to reveal the sources for an article titled “Mutiny in Daloa: Six Guinean Soldiers Arrested,” which appeared in the 8 April edition of “Le Jeune Democrate”.
The report alleged that six mercenaries from neighboring Guinea had been arrested for helping to instigate a 28 March mutiny at a military base in the Ivorian town of Daloa, eighty miles northwest of Abidjan, with the goal of overthrowing President Robert Gueï’s regime. The mutineers were protesting the belated payment of salaries and perks that the CNSP promised them after it seized power on Christmas Eve last year.
Toualy’s captors repeatedly threatened his life when he refused to reveal the confidential sources for his article. He was so severely beaten that he lost consciousness. After thirty minutes he regained consciousness only to be knocked unconscious again by his assailants.
After five hours of torture, Toualy was taken into a cell and asked to identify six inmates as the six Guinean soldiers mentioned in his article. Toualy’s captors apparently believed that these six men were the sources for the article, which they were not, according to CPJ’s sources.
Toualy was then released. He later checked himself into a hospital, where he was treated for severe concussion and other serious injuries.
Toualy’s torture comes three weeks after CPJ wrote to President Gueï about several serious press freedom violations perpetrated by soldiers. The organization once again reminded him that upon seizing power in December 1999, he promised that freedom of expression would be respected. Since then, however, brutal attacks on journalists and news organizations critical of his government have become common practice in Côte d’Ivoire.
Recommended Action
Send appeals to the president:
– condemning this sordid state of affairs and urging His Excellency to launch an immediate investigation into the kidnapping and torture of Toualy
– urging him to ensure that the perpetrators are brought to justice, and that all journalists in his country may seek, receive and impart information without fear of reprisals
Appeals To
APPEALS TO:
President Robert Gueï
La Primature
Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire
Fax: +225 20 32 90 77
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
