Abstract
Côte d’Ivoire has undergone significant challenges vis-à-vis post-conflict reconstruction, reconciliation and human rights abuses which culminated into the establishment of several transitional justice (TJ) mechanisms since 2011. To ensure awareness-creation and popularisation of these processes, the support and involvement of CSOs and the media are pertinent. This chapter therefore identified major Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and online news media involved in TJ processes, and explored ways in which CSOs have engaged the media and made use of online news media to further TJ objectives. Laudable elements of media engagement by CSOs in Côte d'Ivoire were identified as capacity building, media projects and campaigns, news articles, interviews and press releases. The chapter recommends further strengthening of the relationship between CSOs and the media, and calls upon media professionals to go beyond covering TJ events to taking ownership of TJ processes through in-depth reporting and coverage of TJ processes.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
- 1.
This body was initially known as the National Press Council (Conseil nationale de la presse, CNP) and was renamed National Press Authority (Autorité nationale de la press, ANP) through a 2017 amendment in Article 40 of Law N° 2017-867 of 27 December 2017 on the press.
- 2.
For example, the Dialogue, Truth and Reconciliation Commission (CDVR) published its final report of 125 pages in December 2014, and the National Commission on Enquiry (CNE) published a 35-page report on violations of human rights and international humanitarian law in July 2012.
Bibliography
Abidjan.net website: https://abidjan.net/.
Abidjan.net. «17 juillet, Journée Internationale de la Justice: La Côte d’Ivoire sur le pendule de la Justice» https://news.abidjan.net/h/437425.html (accessed October 1, 2019a).
Abidjan.net. «Côte d’Ivoire: les responsables de victimes de guerre formés sur le monitoring et la conduite des consultations» https://news.abidjan.net/h/615977.html (accessed October 1, 2019b).
Abidjan.net. «Des journalistes ivoiriens se forment aux notions de la justice transitionnelle, jeudi.» https://news.abidjan.net/h/486951.html (accessed October 1, 2019c).
Abidjan.net. «Des leaders communautaires de Toulépleu instruits sur la justice transitionnelle» https://news.abidjan.net/h/637233.html (accessed October 1, 2019d).
Abidjan.net. «Hervé Gouaméné, président de l’APDH: “La réconciliation vraie ne pourra se faire sans la justice et le pardon qui s’obtient après une repentance» https://news.abidjan.net/h/402438.html (accessed October 1, 2019e).
Abidjan.net. «Justice transitionnelle: Une table ronde pour renforcer les capacités des médias,» https://news.abidjan.net/h/457956.html (accessed October 1, 2019f).
Abidjan.net. «Les professionnels des médias formés sur la réparation des victimes des crises» http://news.abidjan.net/h/556384.html (accessed October 1, 2019g).
Abidjan.net. «Me Drissa Traoré, président du MIDH: “Il ne faut pas sacrifier la justice pour la réconciliation» https://news.abidjan.net/h/402437.html (accessed October 1, 2019h).
Abidjan.net. «Médias-Justice: les journalistes ivoiriens appelés à s’abstenir de diffuser des informations sensibles sur des témoins et victimes» https://news.abidjan.net/h/555701.html (accessed October 1, 2019i).
Abidjan.net. «Nathalie Koné-Traoré, Vice-présidente du FOSCAO: Il n’y a pas de dichotomie entre la justice et la réconciliation» https://news.abidjan.net/h/402571.html (accessed October 1, 2019j).
Abidjan.net. «Séminaire de l’Onuci sur l’engagement des leaders d’opinion pour le renforcement de la cohésion sociale et la réconciliation: l’éducation à la culture de la paix, selon Dr Doumbia Diénéba» https://news.abidjan.net/h/402769.html (accessed October 1, 2019k).
Abidjan.net. «Un instrument de paix au service des pays fragiles» https://news.abidjan.net/h/402302.html (accessed October 1, 2019l).
Abidjan.net. «UNJCI/Formation des journalistes:Les acteurs de la presse et des médias à l’école de la justice transitionnelle» https://news.abidjan.net/h/444589.html (accessed October 1, 2019m).
Abidjan.net. «Yamoussoukro / Mécanisme de justice transitionnelle pour le retour à la paix: ONG et société civile instruites par la LIDHO et l’ONUCI» https://news.abidjan.net/h/430744.html (accessed October 1, 2019n).
Adjue, A. J. (2016) Histoire de la communication en Côte d’Ivoire: épreuve d’une épistémologie. Communication en Question, no. 7 (November/December): 63–83.
African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights. (2019) Study on Transitional Justice and Human and Peoples, https://www.achpr.org/news/viewdetail?id=185.
African Press Agency (APA) website: https://apanews.net.
African Union. (2019) “Transitional Justice Policy” (African Union Commission), https://au.int/sites/default/files/documents/36541-doc-au_tj_policy_eng_web.pdf.
Agence ivoirienne de presse (AIP) website: https://aip.ci/.
All You Can Read ‘Top 12 Côte d’Ivoire Newspapers and News Media’, https://www.allyoucanread.com/ivory-coast-newspapers/.
Amnesty International (2016) Amnesty International Report 2015/16 – Côte d’Ivoire, 24 February (accessed September 28, 2019) https://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/POL1025522016ENGLISH.PDF.
APDHCI website. https://www.apdhci.org.
Bah, Abu Bakarr. (2013). Civil Non-state Actors in Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding in West Africa. Journal of International Peacekeeping 17, nos. 3–4: 313–336. https://doi.org/10.1163/18754112-1704008.
Bah, Abu Bakarr. (2017). Seeking Democracy in Côte d’Ivoire: Overcoming Exclusionary Citizenship. Global Centre for Pluralism.
Bosire, L. K., & Lynch, G. (2014). Kenya’s Search for Truth and Justice: The Role of Civil Society. International Journal of Transitional Justice, no. 8: 256–276.
Brankovic, Jasmina, & van der Merwe Hugo, eds. (2018). Advocating Transitional Justice in Africa: The Role of Civil Society. Cham: Springer.
Centre for Advocacy and Research New Delhi. (2012). A Framework for Media Engagement on Human Rights, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in South Asia: Regional Framework, Literature. Review and Country Case Studies, India.
Christophe Kouamé (president, CIVIS-CI) in discussion with the author, October 10, 2019.
Coalition for the ICC ‘Côte d’Ivoire’. http://www.coalitionfortheicc.org/country/cote-divoire.
Commission Dialogue, vérité et reconciliation. (2014). Rapport final (December), 9, http://www.gouv.ci/doc/presse/1477497207RAPPORT%20FINAL_CDVR.pdf.
Convention de la société civile ivoirienne Présentation génerale de la convention de la société civil ivoirienne (accessed September 25, 2019), http://csci.group/visionneuse/web/viewer.html?file=http://csci.group/documents/201807101presentationdelacscisiteweb2018.pdf.
Convention de la société civile ivoirienne «Présentation génerale de la convention de la société civil ivoirienne,» http://csci.group/visionneuse/web/viewer.html?file=http://csci.group/documents/201807101presentationdelacscisiteweb2018.pdf (accessed September 25, 2019).
Dhizaala, J. T. (2018). Transitional Justice in Liberia: The Interface Between Civil Society Organisations and the Liberian Truth and Reconciliation” in Advocating Transitional Justice in Africa: The Role of Civil Society edited by Jasmina Brankovic & van der Merwe, 43–63. Cham: Springer.
Djadou, P. (2015a). Comprendre la presse en Côte d’Ivoire: des origines a nos jours’ (July 1, 2015a) http://www.100pour100culture.com/media/dossier-comprendre-la-presse-en-Côte-divoire-des-origines-a-nos-jours-2/.
Djadou, P. (2015b). Comprendre la presse en Côte d’Ivoire: des origines à nos jours (www.100pour100culture.com1 July 2015b) (accessed September 16, 2019). http://www.100pour100culture.com/media/dossier-comprendre-la-presse-en-Côte-divoire-des-origines-a-nos-jours-2/.
European Union. (2015). The EU’s Policy Framework on Support to Transitional Justice (November), 8, http://recom.link/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/The-EU%E2%80%99s-Policy-Framework-on-support-to-transitional-justice.pdf.
For More Details on the Organization: http://www.pantheonsorbonne.fr/fileadmin/IREDIES/Projets_de_recherche/Rapport_du_sondage_sur_le_processus_de_r%c3%a9conciliation_nationale_et_la_CVDR.pdf (accessed October 1, 2019).
Fraternité Matin is online at https://www.fratmat.info.
GEPCI Launched a Digital News Website in February 2018, available here https://www.pressecotedivoire.ci/ (accessed October 1, 2019).
Gueudeu, Y. P. (2012). The Law and the Media in Cȏte d’Ivoire. Accra: Media Foundation for West Africa.
Human Rights Watch. (2015). To Consolidate This Peace of Ours: A Human Rights Agenda for Côte d’Ivoire’ (December 8) https://www.hrw.org/report/2015/12/08/consolidate-peace-ours/human-rights-agenda-Côte-divoire
Human Rights Watch “Côte d’Ivoire: No Amnesty for Serious Crimes of 2010–11 Crisis” (https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/08/07/cote-divoire-no-amnesty-serious-crimes-2010-11-crisis).
Human Rights Watch, “Making Justice Count: Lessons from the ICC Work in Côte d’Ivoire” (https://www.hrw.org/report/2015/08/04/making-justice-count/lessons-iccs-work-cote-divoire).
Human Rights Watch, “To Consolidate This Peace of Ours: A Human Rights Agenda for Côte d’Ivoire,” https://www.hrw.org/report/2015/12/08/consolidate-peace-ours/human-rights-agenda-cote-divoire (accessed September 23, 2019).
Human Rights Watch. (2019). “World Report 2019: Côte d’Ivoire Available” https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2019/country-chapters/cote-divoire.
International Center for Transitional Justice «Côte d’Ivoire: ICTJ’s role https://www.ictj.org/our-work/regions-and-countries/c%C3%B4te-divoire (accessed October 1, 2019).
International Center for Transitional Justice, “Espoirs déçus: traitement judiciaire des violences postélectorales en Côte d’Ivoire,” 5 (April 2016), 5, https://www.ictj.org/sites/default/files/ICTJ-Report-CDI-Prosecutions-2016-French.pdf.
International Center for Transitional Justice, “Transitional Justice Factsheet,” https://www.ictj.org/about/transitional-justice (accessed September 22, 2019).
Kemunto, B. L., & Lynch, G. (2014). Kenya’s Search for Truth and Justice: The Role of Civil Society. International Journal of Transitional Justice 8, no. 2 (July): 256–276, https://doi.org/10.1093/ijtj/iju002.
L’intelligent d’Abidjan website: https://www.lintelligentdabidjan.info/.
Laplante, L. J., and Phenicie K. (2009). Mediating Post-Conflict Dialogue: The Media’s Role in Transitional Justice Processes. Marquette Law Review 93: 251–283.
Law N ° 2013-867 of 23 December 2013 on Access to Information of Public Interest, Côte d’Ivoire.
Law N ° 91–1001 of 27 December 1991a relating to audiovisual communication, Côte d’Ivoire.
Law N ° 91–1033 of 31 December 1991b on the press, Côte d’Ivoire.
Law N ° 91–1034 of 31 December 1991c on the legal status of professional journalists, Côte d’Ivoire.
Law No 2012-1132 of 13 December 2012 on the establishment, attribution, organisation and functioning of the National Human Rights Commission (Commission Nationale des Droits de l’Homme de Côte d’Ivoire, CNDHCI).
Law of 60–315 of 21 September 1960 on associations, Côte d’Ivoire.
LIANE «Cahier de propositions pour l’amélioration du cadre juridique des organisations de la société civile ivoirienne», LIANE, http://rcliane.cerap-inades.org/content/loi-sur-les-associations-en-c%C3%B4te-divoire-la-soci%C3%A9t%C3%A9-civile-fait-ses-propositions (accessed September 25, 2019).
LIDHO website: www.lidho-ci.org.
Lucini, B. A., & Kalvin, B. (2017). Country Overview: Côte d’Ivoire, Driving Mobile-Enabled Digital Transformation (April) 3. https://www.gsmaintelligence.com/research/?file=d1553a76179408fc82301b75174bc281&download (accessed September 21, 2019).
Malu, L. N. (2019). The International Criminal Court and the Peace Process in Côte d’Ivoire. In The International Criminal Court and Peace Processes, 159–187. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan.
Melone, S., Terzis, G., & l Beleli, O. (2002) Using the Media for Conflict Transformation: The Common Ground Experience. Berghof Research Center for Constructive Conflict Management. http://edoc.vifapol.de/opus/volltexte/2011/2588/pdf/melone_hb.pdf.
MIDH was established in 2000, website: http://www.midhci.org/.
Mohamed Suma (Head, International Center for Transitional Justice Côte d’Ivoire office) in discussion with the author on October 7, 2019.
OSIWA website: http://www.osiwa.org.
Phuong N. Pham, & Vinck, P. (2014). Fragile Peace, Elusive Justice: Population-Based Survey on Perceptions and Attitudes About Security and Justice in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire (Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, 2014), v, http://www.peacebuildingdata.org/sites/m/pdf/Abidjan_2014_Fragile_Peace_Elusive_Justice.pdf.
Price, M., & Stremlau, N. (2012). Media and Transitional Justice: Toward a Systematic Approach. International Journal of Communication 6 (23): 1077–1099
Radiodiffusion-Télévision ivoirienne (RTI) « Médias: Le nouveau code de déontologie du journaliste ivoirien adopté“ https://www.rti.ci/info/societe/138/medias-le-nouveau-code-de-deontologie-du-journaliste-ivoirien-adopte (accessed September 21, 2019).
RCLIANE.CERAP, What Is the LIANE Project?, http://rcliane.cerap-inades.org/content/quest-ce-que-le-projet-liane (accessed September 25, 2019).
Reporters Without Borders. (2019). 2019 World Press Freedom Index (accessed September 15), https://rsf.org/en/2019-world-press-freedom-index-cycle-fear.
Reporters Without Borders, «Monitoring des médias: dérapages inquiétants dans la presse écrite privée» (https://rsf.org/fr/actualites/monitoring-des-medias-derapages-inquietants-dans-la-presse-ecrite-privee) Reporters sans frontiers, https://rsf.org/fr/ (accessed September 16, 2019).
RTI Mise en place d’un organe d’autorégulation des médias numériques: la tutelle félicite le RPPRELCI Radiodiffusion-Télévision ivoirienne, https://www.rti.ci/infos_societe_15210_mise-en-place-d-un-organe-d-autoregulation-des-medias-numeriques-la-tutelle-felicite-le-repprelci.html.
Songa, A. (2018). Locating Civil Society in Kenya’s Transitional Justice Agenda: A Reflection on the Experience of the Kenya Transitional Justice Network with the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission. In Advocating Transitional Justice in Africa: The Role of Civil Society edited by Jasmina Brankovic & van der Merwe, 17–41. Cham: Springer.
The Centre for Research and Action for Peace. (2018). Cartographie de la contribution des organisations de la société civile à la gouvernance sectorielle en Côte d’Ivoire (December) https://eeas.europa.eu/sites/eeas/files/tome_1-reduzed.pdf.
The Constitution of the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire, Law N ° 2016-886 of 8 November 2016.
The Constitution of the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire, Law N° 2016-886 of 8 November 2016 (Article 101), Original text: [La loi fixe les règles concernant: – la citoyenneté, les droits civiques et les garanties fondamentales accordées aux citoyens pour l’exercice des libertés publiques, la liberté, le pluralisme et l’indépendance des medias…].
The International Criminal Court, “Gbagbo and Blé Goudé Case: The Prosecutor v. Laurent Gbagbo and Charles Blé Goudé”, The International Criminal Court, https://www.icc-cpi.int/cdi/gbagbo-goude (accessed September 20, 2019).
The New Humanitarian ‘Analysis. (2012). Côte d’Ivoire Needs Top Down Reconciliation’ IRIN (20 December) http://www.irinnews.org/analysis/2012/12/20/côte-divoire-needs-top-down-reconciliation.
The website of ARGA http://www.afrique-gouvernance.net/index_fr.html.
UNDP. (2013). A Framework for Media Engagement on Human Rights, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in South Asia, 2. New Delhi: Centre for Advocacy and Research.
UNESCO, Etude-Diagnostique de la Situation des Medias: Presse, Presse En Ligne, Radio est Télévision, Entrave A La Proffessionalisation et Mesures Correctives, http://www.caidp.ci/uploads/3af05f87c7a98e4ba0b790c018e5f39b.pdf.
UNJI’s website (www.unjci.net) was not active as at 1 October 2019.
WANEP Côte d’Ivoire was established in 2003 https://www.wanep.org/wanep/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=39&Itemid=56.
Zio, Moussa. (2012). The Media and the Political Crisis in Côte d’Ivoire. Media Foundation for West Africa 1: Legon, Ghana.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2022 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Coulibaly, A.N. (2022). The Media and Civil Society as Partners in Transitional Justice in Côte D’ivoire. In: Adeola, A., Mutua, M.W. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Democracy, Governance and Justice in Africa. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-74014-6_9
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-74014-6_9
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-74013-9
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-74014-6
eBook Packages: Political Science and International StudiesPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)