Up to 1,000 people may have been killed in post-election violence and perhaps close to million forced to flee. Amnesty International has also faulted the United Nations force in Ivory Coast for not doing enough to prevent killings. (In my opinion compared to the events of the civil war a decade earlier, the UN acted relatively effectively – with emphasis on relatively as more could have been done). Newly sworn in President Alassane Ouattara has pledged to investigate all killings and other grave violations of international humanitarian law. It is not clear how much control he actually has over some of the forces that purportedly supported him, and fighting and violence has still mushroomed in parts of the country. Investigation/Prosecution of Gbagbo & Others What President Ouattara has done right from the outset, even before he was inaugurated, is to ask the ICC to take over the investigations and prosecutions of the grave violations of international humanitarian law in the post election violence. The course of justice for former President Laurent Gbagbo should also follow the same path. (Bottom Photo - Gbagbo with UN Representative Choi). Otherwise, a trial in Ivory Coast rather than The Hague could be seen by some as more political than legal and be further divisive. Gbagbo certainly has culpability on his hands for promoting genocidal ethnic discourse as well as the conflict and violence. Perhaps the ICC will follow up with such an investigation once its investigation is underway fully. ICC Assigns Ivory Coast Investigation to Trial Chamber Below is the Statement from the ICC; Presidency of the International Criminal Court (ICC) assigned the situation in the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire to Pre-Trial Chamber II following the letter of 19 May 2011, by which the Prosecutor informed the President of the Court of his intention to submit a request to the Pre-Trial Chamber for authorisation to open investigations into the situation in Côte d'Ivoire since 28 November 2010. Côte d’Ivoire, which is not party to the Rome Statute, had accepted the jurisdiction of the ICC on 18 April 2003; more recently, and on both 14 December 2010 and 3 May 2011, the Presidency of Côte d'Ivoire reconfirmed the country’s acceptance of this jurisdiction. After a preliminary examination, the ICC Prosecutor concluded that there is a reasonable basis to believe that crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court have been committed in Côte d'Ivoire since 28 November 2010. More Related Reports at “War Crimes Justice Channel” - diplomaticallyincorrect.org/c/war-crimes-justice Including: ---“Ivory Coast-Killing & Sanctions” (FILM REPORT)- diplomaticallyincorrect.org/films/movie/killingssanctions-ivory-coast-un-security-council/25918 ---“Where Should Ivory Coast’s Lauren Gbagbo be Brought to Justice?” (ARTICLE) diplomaticallyincorrect.org/films/blog_post/where-should-ivory-coasts-laurent-gbagbo-be-brought-to-justice-by-ambassador-mo/27206 By Ambassador Muhamed Sacirbey Facebook – Become Fan at “Diplomatically Incorrect” Twitter – Follow at DiplomaticallyX