Police use tear gas to disperse a protest in Abidjan district Adjamé

Peaceful Assembly

On 7th September 2018, security forces dispersed a protest by residents of Adjamé village, an autonomous district in the capital Abidjan, using teargas, with several people reported to have been injured as a result. Demonstrators protested against government's plans to evict people in a part of the village to make way for the construction of a bridge - "the 4th bridge of Abidjan". In a press conference, N’Gboba Simon, the Chief of the Adjamé village, stated that authorities had been notified of their intention to demonstrate and the itinerary the protest would follow. He said: 

"Our fight is to make ourselves heard ..... We are not against development, but we can not accept that development takes our village." (translated from French)

Expression

At the last minute, the Groupement des éditeurs de presse de Côte d’Ivoire (GEPCI; Groupe of Press Publishers of Côte d’Ivoire) suspended a 'journée presse morte' (a day without press) protest action, which had been planned for 17th September 2018. The planned media shutdown was intended to protest against the Minister of Communication's decision to withdraw public funding of about 800 million francs CFA (1.4 million USD) which had been earmarked for the print media. The action was suspended to allow discussions on the matter to take place with the government. A second 'journée presse morte' was subsequently announced for 25th October 2018, but was yet again suspended, through a decision by a extraordinary GEPCI General Assembly, to allow further negotiations to take place.