ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast — Masked gunmen with rocket launchers are blocking access to what officials believe may be a mass grave in Ivory Coast, the United Nations said, as concerns grow that the West African nation, which endured a 2002-03 civil war, could return to conflict.
The U.N. reported heavily armed forces allied with Laurent Gbagbo and joined by masked men were preventing people from getting to the village of N’Dotre, where the global body said “allegations point to the existence of a mass grave.”
The U.N. did not elaborate on the possible victims, though it has expressed concerns about hundreds of arrests and dozens of cases of torture and disappearance during the political turmoil since the presidential runoff vote was held nearly a month ago.
“As the violence goes on, the number of dead, wounded and missing persons is increasing rapidly,” U.N. spokesman Farhan Haq said late Thursday.
Alain Toussaint, an adviser to Gbagbo, has said he didn’t believe soldiers or those close to Gbagbo would carry out the acts of violence that have been reported.
Gbagbo has refused to step down from the presidency, despite international calls for his ouster from the U.N., U.S., former colonizer France, the European Union and the African Union. The international community recognizes Alassane Ouattara as the winner, though Gbagbo maintains control of the national military.
Ouattara on Friday condemned the violence in a speech at the Golf Hotel, where he has been holed up since the election.
“Serious human-rights violations have been recorded all over,” he said. “During the curfew, people were kidnapped and killed by Republican Guards and military police accompanied by mercenaries and foreign militiamen.”
He said he has asked the International Criminal Court to send a team to investigate in the coming days and called on the army and the U.N. to protect civilians.
Also Friday, West African leaders threatened to use “legitimate force” to remove Gbagbo if he does not give up power peacefully, said James Gbeho, president of the regional bloc ECOWAS — the Economic Community of West African States — after an emergency summit in Abuja, Nigeria.
Gbeho said ECOWAS was making “an ultimate gesture to Mr. Gbagbo to urge him to make a peaceful exit” and that the group would dispatch a high-level delegation to Ivory Coast.
