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Ouattara's government, in a general statement Saturday responding to allegations of abuses by Amnesty International, blamed any killings on Gbagbo forces acting as they retreated. Ouattara had long tried to distance himself from the northern-based fighters taking up his cause who fought in a brief civil war almost a decade ago that left the country split in two. Those fighters were accused of many atrocities at the time. But Ouattara's repeated calls for an international military intervention to force out Gbagbo and end the violence have gone unheeded and he appeared to change tack as the fighters, known as the "Republican Forces," this week began a swift advance on Abidjan. "The government firmly rejects these accusations and denies all implication of the Republican Forces of Ivory Coast in any possible violations," a government statement said Saturday. Human Rights Watch issued a statement Saturday saying it had documented abuses, with the vast majority perpetrated by forces loyal to Gbagbo against real or perceived Ouattara supporters, as well as against West African immigrants and Muslims. "The documented abuses include targeted killings, enforced disappearances, politically motivated rapes, and unlawful use of lethal force against unarmed demonstrators," the statement said. "These abuses, committed over a four-month period by security forces under the control of Gbagbo and militias loyal to him, may rise to the level of crimes against humanity." It was not immediately possible to reach Gbagbo or his ministers. But the New York-based organization said atrocities committed by pro-Ouattara forces also could amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, including three detainees burned alive and four whose throats were slit, all in Abidjan. "Human Rights Watch has also received credible reports of abuses committed when Ouattara's forces took control of several towns in western (Ivory Coast)," it said. In one village near Abidjan, the statement said, at least nine civilians were killed "in an apparent case of collective punishment against alleged civilian supporters of Gbagbo." It added, "The killing of civilians by pro-Ouattara forces, at times with apparent ethnic or political motivation, also risks becoming a crime against humanity should it become widespread or systematic."
[Associated
Press;
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