IVORY COAST: ILAAD BRINGS THE ARBITRARY ARREST OF HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST ARMAND KRIKPEU TO THE UNITED NATIONS

The International League Against Arbitrary Detention (ILAAD) submitted a complaint to the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) on behalf of Mr. Armand KRIKPEU.

A HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDER ARBITRARILY DETAINED

This action concerns the arbitrary detention of Ivory Coast Armand Krikpeu, a Human rights defender and Secretary General of the citizen platform Agir pour le peuple (AGIP), which brings together 78 collectives and associations in the Ivory Coast.

On 13 September 2024, Mr. Krikpeu was arrested by half a dozen plainclothes police officers, heavily armed, on the street in front of his home as he was preparing to respond to requests from journalists who had come to interview him about a peaceful march in Abidjan planned for that same day, organized by AGIP. The march never took place because more than 25 members of AGIP were arrested on the same day as the rally was beginning.

Mr. Krikpeu was held incommunicado for three days following his arrest and placed in pretrial detention at the Abidjan Penitentiary Center on 16 September 2024. He was then charged with four counts: incitement to insurrection, disturbing public order, organizing a prohibited demonstration, and unlawful assembly.

On July 28, 2025, Mr. Krikpeu was found guilty by the Criminal Court of First Instance of Abidjan, Anti-Terrorism Section, of disturbing public order and organizing a prohibited demonstration, and was sentenced to 24 months in prison and 10 years of deprivation of his civil rights.

ARRESTED WITHOUT A WARRANT AND SUBJECTED TO INCOMMUNICADO DETENTION UNDER VAGUE LAWS DUE TO HIS POLITICAL OPINIONS 

Subjected to enforced disappearance and then continued incommunicado detention, Mr. Krikpeu was also denied access to a lawyer during the first two months of his detention, violating his rights protected under Articles 9(3) and 14 ICCPR and Article 10(1) UDHR, as well as his right to effectively challenge the legality of detention.

Mr. Krikpeu's situation raised concerns regarding this practice of arbitrary arrests and intimidation tactics employed by state authorities, as it violates international obligations of the Ivory Coast under articles 19, 21, 22 and 25 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), guaranteeing the right to freedom of opinion and expression, peaceful assembly, association, and participation in the conduct of public affairs.

Finally, Mr. Krikpeu is deprived of his liberty for expressing political opinions in the exercise of his activity as a human rights defender, violating Articles 2 and 7 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Articles 2 (para. 1) and 26 of the Covenant, as it prohibits any discriminatory deprivation of liberty based on, among others, political or other opinion.

ACTIONS REQUESTED TO THE UN WORKING GROUP AGAINST ARBITRARY DETENTION

In these circumstances, ILAAD respectfully requested that the Working Group renders an opinion finding the deprivation of liberty against the victim to be arbitrary and falling within category I, II, III and V and :

• demand that the Government of the Ivory Coast takes the necessary measures to remedy the situation of the applicant without delay and bring it into line with the relevant international standards, including those set out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Covenant;

  
  

• consider that, taking into account all the circumstances of the case, the appropriate remedy would be the immediate release of the applicant and the granting of the right to obtain redress, including compensation, in accordance with international law;

  
  

• urge the Government of the Ivory Coast to ensure that a thorough and independent investigation is carried out into the circumstances surrounding the arbitrary detention of the applicant and to take appropriate action against those responsible for the violation of his rights.