A militant youth group linked to Ivory Coast's ICC-indicted former president Laurent Gbagbo took on a new mantle this weekend, turning itself into a political party and pledging to work for peace.
The Congress of Young Patriots (COJEP) was set up 14 years ago by hardline youth leader Charles Ble Goude, who along with Gbagbo is awaiting trial in The Hague by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity during unrest in 2010-2011.
Renaming itself the Panafrican Congress for Justice and Equality but keeping the same initials, the new COJEP said in a statement it aimed “to fight for peace” while steering clear of extremists, and that it would not contest upcoming presidential elections.
Goude's “Young Patriots” militia have been accused of perpetrating some of the worst atrocities in the bloody unrest that broke out after a general election in December 2010, claiming more than 3 000 lives in the once prosperous country.
A statement from Goude, sent from his cell in The Hague and read out to supporters at the founding meeting, said: “I call on all my strength for inclusive discussions between the government and opposition, and for peaceful elections.”
The first round of the presidential elections are set for October 25, and are seen as crucial for stabilising the country after the post-election crisis of 2010-2011, which was the last chapter in a decade of political and military crisis in the Ivory Coast.
Nogbou Hyacinthe, an academic, was named as executive secretary of the new party in Goude's absence.
AFP