In Côte d’Ivoire, political easing continues. On February 22, President Alassane Ouattara pardoned 51 personalities convicted of bloody crimes during the crises that shook the country. This Sunday, March 3, a tribute ceremony took place in the town of Abobo where seven women who demonstrated against the regime of Laurent Gbagbo, on March 3, 2011, were killed by the Security Forces in still unclear circumstances.
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With our correspondent in Abidjan, Marine Jeannin
The families of the victims and the survivors were gathered to receive tributes from the government and compensation, but also to attend the laying of the first stone of a commemorative stele.
Several members of the government, dozens of survivors of the killings and families of victims as well as religious and traditional leaders were gathered this Sunday morning, under a stormy sky. Tributes followed one another at the lectern, with two announcements. The bodies of the victims will be handed over to their loved ones in the coming days and the survivors as well as the families of the victims will receive a donation of 12 million CFA francs.
“ A gesture of reconciliation “, declared Kandia Camara, president of the Senate and mayor of the commune of Abobo. “ I would like to greet the families of the victims, and also greet the victims who were there, present, and say that we must move towards forgiveness. We must look to the future and the future, for us, it is bright. We have not forgotten. We forgive and we say thank you to everyone and never again “, she said.
Madoussou Doubia is one of the survivors of the march where she lost one of her friends. She says she is satisfied with the government’s announcements, but for the families of the victims, she says, forgetting is impossible.
“ It’s been 13 years now. So we ourselves try to forget. We don’t want to keep this story in our heads because it doesn’t move us forward. We want to forget this story. We will forgive, but we cannot forget. If your parent is dead, we can give you millions, it’s not going to replace the person. », she emphasizes
In collaboration with the ICC Victim Compensation Fund, several steles should be erected in Côte d’Ivoire. After Abobo, it will be the turn of the commune of Yopougon and the towns of Bloléquin, Péhé, Doké and Duékoué, all bereaved by the unrest of recent decades.
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