Ivory Coast murders and abuse of foreigners documented in report

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Source: The Guardian

The systematic persecution and murder of foreign nationals in Ivory Coast has been revealed in a harrowing eyewitness account obtained by human rights monitors.

A 21-year-old Malian man told Human Rights Watch how he and six other west Africans were forced to their knees in a dark basement and beaten with an iron bar. Five of the men were executed at point-blank range but he resisted and escaped.

The watchdog said it had documented the beating or burning to death of at least 14 west African immigrants in Ivory Coast. Its report chronicles rising atrocities on both sides of the country's political divide and said those committed by president Laurent Gbagbo's forces may constitute crimes against humanity.

The Malian national, who was not named, told the NGO how he narrowly avoided death on 6 March when he and six others were abducted and forced into two vehicles by militiamen.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/mar/16/ivory-coast-murders-foreigners-report