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Declaration on the Implementation of The Pretoria Agreement
on the Peace Process in the Cote d'Ivoire At the invitation of the Mediator,
the signatories to the Pretoria Agreement met in Pretoria on 28 and 29 June 2005
to review the implementation of the agreement they reached on 6 April 2005. The
meeting was attended by His Excellency Laurent Gbagbo, President of the Republic
of Cote d'Ivoire, Prime Minister Seydou Diarra, representing the Government of
National Reconciliation, former President Henri Konan Bedie, representing the
Parti Democratique de Cote d'Ivoire (PDCI), former Prime Minister Alassane Dramane
Ouattara representing the Rassemblement des Republicains (RDR) and Minister of
State Guillaume Soro, Secretary General of the New Forces. The meeting was chaired
by President Thabo Mbeki. The meeting was held against the background of
the recent massacre in Duekoue. In line with their earlier recognition of the
sacred right of the Ivorian people to life, peace and development, the leaders
condemned this action and stressed that it constitutes a threat to the advancement
of the peace process. They accordingly pledged to work together to prevent a repetition
of similar incidents. The Ivorian leaders stressed that the holding of
elections is central to the process of returning Cote d'Ivoire to normality. Accordingly,
they reaffirmed the importance of moving speedily with the removal of all obstacles
to the holding of Presidential elections in October 2005. The leaders fully
endorsed the April 6 Pretoria Agreement and noted that some progress had been
made with its implementation. However, there remain some elements that have not
been implemented. After a detailed review of the implementation of the agreement,
they agreed as follows: 1. Joint declaration of the end of the war The
statement declaring the end of the war was made on 6 April 2005 in Pretoria. The
parties agreed that they would consider further measures to reinforce this message
of the end of hostilities. 2. Disarmament and Dismantling of the Militia
The Prime Minister reported on preparatory work done by the government
for the disarmament and dismantling of the militia. The meeting noted that the
actual disarmament and dismantling of the militia has not yet commenced. In this
regard, it was agreed that this process will commence immediately and end by 20
August 2005. It was also agreed that the Troika, comprising the Prime Minister,
the Mediator and ONUCI, will evaluate what additional support may be necessary
to expedite this process, with a view also to shorten the time within which this
task would be finalised. 3. Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration
(DDR) Recognising that it would be impossible to hold elections while
this matter is outstanding, the meeting expressed great concern with the lack
of progress with regard to the DDR process. The meeting took note of the
common will of the Chiefs of Staff of both forces to be part of the DDR process.
They resumed military dialogue and withdrew heavy weapons from the frontline.
They finalised a PNDDR/RC for the country and a timetable for the re-organisation
and restoration of the defence and security forces. The meeting strongly
encouraged them to accomplish further progress in the DDR process. To this end,
the Chiefs of Staff of FANCI and the FAFN will meet with the CNDDR on Thursday,
July 7, 2005, to finalise the adoption of a DDR timetable. The meeting
was informed that the government has started to rehabilitate DDR sites in the
North of the country. The Chairperson of the CNDDR assured the meeting that three
sites in the North would be ready for the intake of combatants within three weeks.
Sites in the South are ready. Accordingly, it was agreed that the intake
of combatants should start as from the end of July 2005, recognising the linkage
with the decision to amend the Nationality and Identity laws as set out in item
8 below. In the meantime all other agreed programmes on DDR, such as sensitisation
and rehabilitation of other sites would continue. 4. Ensuring security
in the area under Forces Nouvelles control The meeting took note of
the efforts to train 600 members of FN and urged all the roleplayers to speed
up the process. Persons who are going to train members of the FN who will be responsible
for normal policing after the regrouping of FN combatants have finalised their
training. The process of identifying 600 individuals to be trained is proceeding.
The need for additional police support will be considered by ONUCI and the Mediation.
5. Security of the members of Government from the FN and other Presidential
candidates The Mediation has completed the training of security personnel
who would be responsible for securing FN Ministers. These trained close protectors
have returned to Cote d'Ivoire for deployment. The necessary security arrangements
are now in place to allow the FN Ministers to fully resume their government duties.
The Secretary General of the FN indicated that they are all ready to resume their
government activities. The global security plan for all FN Ministers will
be finalised and adopted by the Chiefs of Staff at their meeting on 7 July 2005.
ONUCI and the Mediation will give priority to developing a protection plan
and necessary security arrangements for Minister of State Guillaume Soro and Presidential
candidates Henri Konan Bedie and Alassane Ouattara. They will also undertake a
review of the necessary security plans for the elections, in particular access
to voting places. 6. Independent Electoral Commission and Organisation
of elections The legislation on the IEC should be adopted by July 15,
2005 and the IEC should become operational immediately thereafter and not later
than July 31, 2005. The leaders reaffirmed that the IEC is the sole institution
in charge of the electoral process and the National Institute of Statistics should
report to the IEC on matters relating to the elections. The leaders recognised
the positive role played by the United Nations Security Council in support of
the electoral process and expressed appreciation for the urgent manner in which
the UN has acted on their request. The UN Secretary General is urged to
speedily appoint the high level representative who will oversee the electoral
process. 7. Ivorian Radio and Television (RTI) The agreement
reached in Pretoria that President Gbagbo issue a decree to restore the status
and management of the RTI has been implemented. The government is working on extending
the infrastructure of the RTI to the rest of the country. The leaders implored
the management of the RTI to ensure that all parties are given fair access to
state media and to improve the quality of the programmes. 8. Re-tabling
of laws The meeting expressed concern that the laws have not been adopted
as agreed to in the Pretoria agreement. The parties made an appeal to the
representatives of the people of Cote d'Ivoire in the National Assembly to contribute
to the peace process by assisting in the implementation of this agreement. In
that regard, the National Assembly should adopt, by 15 July 2005, all the amendments
to the seven laws proposed by the Mediation, failing which the Mediator is authorised
to make a determination about exceptional measures, inter alia, ordinances and
decrees, to be taken by the President to ensure the passage of the amendments.
The said laws relate to the IEC, Financing of Political Parties, Nationality,
Identification, the Human Rights Commission, the Print Media and the Audio-Visual
Communication. The law on the financing of political parties would be amended
to provide that parties outside the National Assembly would be funded provided
that they have representatives at the local government level. Such funding will
commence on 15 July 2005. 9. Eligibility to the Presidency of the Republic
The parties recalled that the issue of the amendment of Article 35
of the Constitution had been a major obstacle in the advancement of the peace
process. They acknowledged that the announcement by the President of the Republic
on 26 April 2005 marked a significant milestone in the creation of a favourable
environment towards the holding of elections. The parties committed themselves
to build on this achievement. Should it prove necessary to use the provisions
of Article 48 of the Constitution again, this matter would be discussed with the
Mediation and other signatories. 10. Role of the mediation. The
parties, recognising the important contribution made by the mediation and driven
by their genuine interest to remove all obstacles to the holding of elections
on 30 October 2005, call upon the mediation to play a greater role in the implementation
of the agreement. 11. Sanctions The parties, as a further
demonstration of their commitment to the implementation of the Pretoria Agreements,
agree that the AU should impose appropriate sanctions against those parties who
fail to implement the Pretoria agreements and block the peace process. Similarly
the parties agree that, on such failure, the Mediation would proceed to recommend
imposition of the UN sanctions as set out in Resolution 1572 of Nov 15, 2004 and
other relevant Security Council resolutions. HE Laurent GBAGBO
President
of the Republic of Cote d'Ivoire Mr Henri Konan BEDIE
for the PDCI
Mr Alassane Dramane OUATTARA
for the RDR
Mr Guillaume SORO
for
the New Forces HE Seydou Elimane DIARRA
Prime Minister of the Government
of National Reconciliation HE Thabo MBEKI
President of the Republic
of South Africa
Mediator of the African Union Signed in Pretoria on
this 29th day of June 2005 Issued by: The Presidency
29 June 2005
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