20110722
Reuters
GENEVA (Reuters) - The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Friday that it had made its first visit to former Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo, along with other detainees in the north this week.



The independent aid agency said in a statement that its standard terms of holding private interviews with inmates to evaluate their treatment and detention conditions had been met. The ICRC shares its findings only with detaining authorities.

"This was the first visit (to Gbagbo), I can't give more details," ICRC spokesman Marcal Izard told Reuters.

A presidential election in November last year plunged the West African nation into violence when Gbagbo refused to accept his defeat by Alassane Ouattara and used a medley of soldiers, youth militias and mercenaries to crush dissent.

Gbagbo is now detained in the north, awaiting trial for alleged economic crimes and a possible International Criminal Court probe into war crimes during the post-election conflict that killed at least 3,000 people.

ICRC officials visited people held in detention facilities or house arrest in Bouna, Boundiali, Katiola, Korhogo and Odienne between July 18-21, the statement said.

"Gaining access to everyone arrested in connection with the post-electoral crisis has always been a priority for the ICRC," said Dominique Liengme, head of the ICRC delegation in Abidjan.

"We will continue to visit people held in all temporary and permanent places of detention in the country to make sure they are treated humanely," she added.

In all, the ICRC said it had monitored more than 500 detainees in 100 visits to 60 places of detention in Ivory Coast since the beginning of the year.

The ICRC also arranges for the exchange of family news between detainees and their relatives and distributes medical and other supplies to detainees as needed.

President Ouattara signed a decree on Wednesday establishing a commission of inquiry into crimes committed during the country's violent post-election turmoil.