Côte d’Ivoire

A presidential democratic republic, Côte d’Ivoire (or Ivory Coast) is located in West Africa, on the Gulf of Guinea. The country declared independence from France in 1960 and was considered a stable and prosperous nation for three subsequent decades.

In recent times, the country has been through a troubled period, experiencing a coup d’état in 1999, followed by two civil wars (2002 to 2007, then 2010 to 2011) that pitched the north of the country against the south.¹

Although the civil war ended in 2011, Côte d’Ivoire still struggles amid regional, ethnic and political tensions, most recently seen during the 2020 Presidential elections.² Corruption and bribery continue to affect all levels of society.³

Ivory Coast counts over 29 million inhabitants,⁴ roughly divided between Muslims (42.5%), mainly in the north, and Christians (39.8%), mainly in the south. A small minority adheres to other religions. 12.6% of the population identify as non-religious.⁵

Ivory Coast is a member of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.

Constitution and government

The Constitution of 2016⁶ declares Ivory Coast a secular state (Article 49), and affirms the equality of all citizens before the law irrespective of religion (Article 4), further prohibiting discrimination in public and private employment due to, inter alia, philosophical or religious opinions (Article 14).

Article 19 of the Constitution protects freedom of thought, belief and expression, crucially mentioning freedom of conscience and of philosophical convictions alongside freedom of religion:

“Freedom of thought and freedom of expression, particularly, freedom of conscience, of philosophical and religious conviction or of worship are guaranteed to everyone. Everyone has the right to express and disseminate their ideas freely.

“These freedoms are exercised subject to respect for the law, for the rights of others, for national security and for public order.”

“Any propaganda whose objective or outcome is to elevate one social group above another, or to encourage racial, tribal or religious hatred is prohibited.”⁷

Religious groups

Although the country considers itself secular, the Government acknowledges the significant role that the country’s religious groups have to play in the development of the country and actively seeks engagement with them.⁸

The Department of Faith Based Organizations (DGC) within the Ministry of the Interior is entrusted with promoting dialogue between religious groups and with the Government. It also provides administrative support for these groups as well as monitoring their activities and processing the registration of new religious organizations.⁹

Religious groups are required by law to register with the Government by submitting an application to the DGC, which conducts a security investigation on the group and its members. Although no penalty is foreseen for not registering, registered religious groups benefit from government support, including exemption from property tax on their places of worship and free access to state-run television and radio to provide specifically religious programming. Registered religious groups are also exempt from import duties on items such as religious books, the Government also funds pilgrimages abroad for Christians and Muslims.⁹

According to the US State Department, the DGC reported that the Government was planning to update the 1960 law on ‘associations’ in order to better differentiate different types of civil society groups and provide different regulatory approaches for each.⁹However, in June 2024 the Government issued an Order on Civil Society Groups¹⁰ which, while differentiating civil society groups, has been strongly criticized by NGOs for including measures that restrict the right to association (see more in section on Freedom of association).

Education and children’s rights

Religious education is not part of the public school curriculum but is often offered by private schools affiliated with a particular faith. It is usually possible to opt out of these classes. Government subsidies are available at the same rate for both secular and religious schools.¹¹

Talibés children

In the North of the country, children known as talibés can be found begging on the streets. These children, reported as mainly coming from neighbouring countries, are sent by their families to “study” in daaras (islamic schools) and are forced to beg to earn their keep. They are often subject to violence and abuse by their “masters”.¹²

Child witchcraft accusations

There is very limited information on children accused of witchcraft in Cote d’Ivoire, however reports exist that demonstrate serious child abuse occuring in the country as a result of beliefs and practices related to witchcraft.¹³Witchcraft is recognized by religious groups in the country and a number of Catholic Church pastors even practise exorcisms and recognize the existence of child witches.¹⁴

Child marriage

Child marriage is historically widespread, though the 2019 marriage law¹⁵set the minimum age for marriage at 18 for both sexes. Customary and religious marriages, more common outside urban areas, were not affected by the law.³In his End of Mission Statement following his country visit to Côte d’Ivoire, the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery expressed concern at the number of child or forced marriages affecting girls as young as 13. He explained that traditional and religious leaders reportedly continue to support the practice.¹⁶

Family, community and society

Religious harmony

Cote d’Ivoire’s different religious groups have historically enjoyed good relations and people of different religions often coexist within the same family. Religion was instrumentalized, however, by the rival parties during the civil wars as part of propaganda attempts to garner support.¹⁷President Ouattara, a Muslim married to a Catholic woman with Jewish origins, has made religious tolerance a priority.¹⁸

While Ivory Coast has been mostly spared the phenomenon of jihadism which afflicts other Western African countries, it suffered a major terrorist attack from Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb in March 2016, when gunmen shot bathers at random in the coastal town Grand Bassam, killing 19 people.¹⁹ The attack was denounced by several religious leaders with the High Council of Imams denouncing the ‘barbaric methods’ of the extremists. Further attacks took place in 2021 on military targets killing several Ivorian soldiers. Islamist groups are suspected to be responsible for the attacks.¹⁸

Several initiatives exist to promote inter-faith dialogue and to prevent extremism including the National Platform for Interfaith Dialogue for the Fight against Violent Extremism, comprised of imams, Catholic priests, evangelical pastors, and youth and women from various religious denominations, and the Alliance of Religions for Peace in Cote d’Ivoire, composed of religious leaders representing the Catholic, evangelical, and Muslim communities.²⁰Humanists International found no reports of abuse targeting atheists or ‘apostates’.

Women’s rights

Côte d’Ivoire currently boasts the best score in Africa on women’s equality according to the latest OECD ratings. However, women’s rights groups in the country explain that this must be seen in terms of legal provisions and not social norms.²¹In practice women continue to face significant discrimination and gender based violence is widespread.
The law also continues to fall short in a number of areas, for example a series of legal reforms in 2019 included the protection of women’s inheritance rights. However, these rights are not protected in the case of customary or non-registered religious marriages meaning some women could still lose their property rights following the death of their husband or if their union ends.²²

Gender based violence

While the new law criminalizes all forms of rape, there remains concern that the definition of marital rape is not based on the lack of freely given consent and that not all forms of domestic violence are explicitly criminalized.²³

Legal provisions against gender based violence are rarely enforced and there is a lack of public awareness of the issue leading to impunity for perpetrators. Rape is often reclassified as indecent assault and the required medical certificates are often too costly for many victims.²⁴

Female Genital Mutilation

Although it is prohibited by law,²⁵according to a 2016 study by Unicef, the percentage of women in the country who are victims of FGM is approximately 36.7%²⁶It is particularly prevalent in the North-West of the country and women who have not been mutilated often face overwhelming social stigma.²⁷However, there is evidence of a slowly growing opposition to the practice (including by religious leaders) and, while prosecutions remain rare, in 2012 nine women received one year prison sentences and fines for performing FGM on approximately 30 young girls.²⁸

Abortion

Abortion is only permitted in Côte d’Ivoire in cases where there is a risk to the life of the mother and, more recently, in cases of rape and incest. In a country where clandestine abortions are one of the primary causes of maternal death and local women’s rights groups campaign for greater access to abortion,²⁹there are reports of American Christian anti-abortion groups funding initiatives in women’s health centers to persuade women not to undergo the procedure.³⁰

LGBTI+ rights

While homosexuality is not criminalized in Côte d’Ivoire,³¹no laws exist to protect LGBTI+ people from discrimination and violence.³²Seen by some as a safe haven for LGBTI+ people in West Africa,³³the community still faces strong social prejudice, stigma and harassment from state security forces.³⁴Religious groups in the country are openly opposed to LGBTI+ rights³⁵and there is growing concern of rising homophobia on social media leading to physical attacks.³⁶An attempt to include sexual orientation as a category within a new anti-discrimination law in 2021, was finally thwarted after vocal opposition who argued that the law would pave the way for the legalisation of same-sex marriage in the country.³⁷

Freedom of expression, advocacy of humanist values

During the 2020 elections it became dangerous for people to openly discuss politics. There were attacks on opposition supporters, including at demonstrations and meetings following the opposition’s boycott of the presidential election. Security forces turned a blind eye to violence perpetrated against opposition supporters.²⁴

Furthermore, in 2020, amendments to the Criminal Code were approved that punish with imprisonment any offense to the president and vice-president, as well as acts of “sharing false news that results or could result in” disturbance to public order.³⁸

Since the 2020 elections there have been improvements in civic freedoms, including the opposition being able to operate more freely.²⁴

Media Freedoms

According to Reporters Without Borders, the media landscape in Côte d’Ivoire is deeply polarized and politicized.³⁹Media outlets in the country tend to heavily support either the Government or the opposition. During the 2020 election violence, many journalists were arrested and beaten by police.³

It is not uncommon for newspapers to be suspended.³⁹In April 2023, the opposition aligned newspaper Le Temps was suspended for six issues by the National Press Authority for allegedly harming the judiciary by publishing a photo of a judge. The paper’s publication director, Yacouba Gbané, was also banned from writing and publishing for three months.⁴⁰

Freedom of assembly

Public demonstrations and protests were banned throughout the 2020 election period. Police responded violently to the protests which followed the opposition’s election boycott; more than 50 people were killed during these demonstrations.⁴⁰

Demonstrations that have taken place in subsequent years have not been met with such violence or interference.⁴¹However, the 2020 amendments to the Criminal Code outlaw the organization of “undeclared or prohibited” demonstrations.⁴²

Freedom of association

A new Order was issued in June 2024 to create stricter regulations for civil society organizations.⁴³It grants powers to the Council of Ministers to dissolve CSOs whose activities it considers a threat to public order, public security or territorial integrity, a threat to social cohesion or that could provoke hatred between ethnic or religious groups. It also outlaws CSOs whose objectives are contrary to “good morals”. Existing CSOs have 12 months to comply with the new regulations, under penalty of a fine of one million FCFA (approximately 1,700 USD), and the possibility of dissolution in the event of non-compliance.⁴⁴In response a group of Ivorian NGOs are advocating against this Order coming into force and have taken their complaint to the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights.⁴⁵

1. Ivory Coast country profile, BBC, accessed October 2024
   https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-13287216 [↩]
2. Briefing No.161/Africa, International Crisis Group, 29 September 2020, accessed October 2024 https://www.crisisgroup.org/fr/africa/west-africa/c%C3%B4te-divoire/b161-cote-divoire-reporter-pour-dialoguer [↩]
3. Freedom in the World Report 2023: Côte d’Ivoire, Freedom House, accessed November 2024
   https://freedomhouse.org/country/cote-divoire/freedom-world/2023 [↩][↩][↩]
4. Résultats globaux définitifs du RGPH 2021, Portail officiel du Gouvernement de Côte d’Ivoire, accessed October 2024 https://www.gouv.ci/_actualite-article.php?recordID=13769 [↩]
5. Recensement général de la population et de l’habitat 2021 Synthèse, Ministère du plan et du développement, October 2022, accessed October 2024
   https://www.caidp.ci/uploads/7113b93cc641ba78c591e9f79a4e729c.pdf [↩]
6. La Constitution Ivoirienne (édition 2016), accessed October 2024, https://www.presidence.ci/constitution-de-2016/[↩]
7. La liberté de pensée et la liberté d’expression, notamment la liberté de conscience, d’opinion philosophique et de conviction religieuse ou de culte, sont garanties à tous. Chacun a le droit d’exprimer et de diffuser librement ses idées.
   Ces libertés s’exercent sous la réserve du respect de la loi, des droits d’autrui, de la sécurité nationale et de l’ordre public.
   Toute propagande ayant pour but ou pour effet de faire prévaloir un groupe social sur un autre, ou d’encourager la haine raciale, tribale ou religieuse, est interdite.[↩]
8. Marie Miran-Guyon & Bony Guiblehon, “Religion et politique en Côte d’Ivoire : un demi-siècle d’intimités ambivalentes”, Observatoire International du Religieux, September 2018 https://obsreligion.cnrs.fr/note/religion-et-politique-en-cote-divoire-un-demi-siecle-dintimites-ambivalentes/[↩]
9. 2023 Report on International Religious Freedom: Côte d’Ivoire, US Department of State, accessed October 2024 https://www.state.gov/reports/2023-report-on-international-religious-freedom/cote-divoire/ [↩][↩][↩]
10. Ordonnance 2024-368 relative à l’organisation de la société civile, Journal Officiel de la République de la Côte d’Ivoire, 21 June 2024 https://droit-et-politique-en-afrique.info/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/ORDONNANCE-n%C2%B0-2024-368-du-12-juin-2024-relative-a-lOrganisation-de-la-societe-civile.pdf[↩]
11. 2023 Report on International Religious Freedom: Côte d’Ivoire, US Department of State, accessed October 2024 https://www.state.gov/reports/2023-report-on-international-religious-freedom/cote-divoire/[↩]
12. Conseil National des Droits de l’Homme, Rapport Annuel 2022, accessed November 2024 https://cndh.ci/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/RAP-ANNUEL-2022-CNDH-10mai2023.pdf [↩]
13. Leo Igwe, “Child Witchcraft Accusations in Ivory Coast”, Modern Ghana, 12 July 2015
    https://www.modernghana.com/blogs/629280/child-witchcraft-accusations-in-ivory-coast.html [↩]
14. Office Français de Protection des Réfugiés et Apatrides, Côte d’Ivoire: Les enfants accusés de sorcellerie, 13 juillet 2022 (accessed November 2024) https://ofpra.gouv.fr/libraries/pdf.js/web/viewer.html?file=/sites/default/files/ofpra_flora/2207_civ_enfants_sorciers_156147_web.pdf [↩]
15. Présidence de la République, Loi 2019-570 relative au mariage, Journal Officiel de la République de la Côte d’Ivoire, 12 July 2019
    https://www.famille.gouv.ci/public/documents/doc_drcc/loi_2019-570_sur_le_mariage.pdf [↩]
16. Country visit of the UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery to Côte
    d’Ivoire, End of Mission Statement, 17 November 2023
    https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/issues/slavery/sr/statements/20231116-eom-statement-visit-cote-d-ivoire-EN.pdf [↩]
17. Marie Miran-Guyon & Bony Guiblehon, “Religion et politique en Côte d’Ivoire : un demi-siècle d’intimités ambivalentes”, Observatoire International du Religieux, September 2018 https://obsreligion.cnrs.fr/note/religion-et-politique-en-cote-divoire-un-demi-siecle-dintimites-ambivalentes/# [↩]
18. International Crisis Group, Briefing No. 192, Keeping Jihadists Out of Northern Côte d’Ivoire, 11 August 2023 https://www.crisisgroup.org/africa/west-africa/cote-divoire/b192-keeping-jihadists-out-northern-cote-divoire [↩][↩]
19. Counter Extremism Project, Côte d’Ivoire: Extremism and Terrorism, accessed November 2024 https://www.counterextremism.com/countries/cote-d-ivoire-extremism-and-terrorism[↩]
20. 2023 Report on International Religious Freedom: Côte d’Ivoire, US Department of State, accessed October 2024 https://www.state.gov/reports/2023-report-on-international-religious-freedom/cote-divoire/[/ref]  Representatives of non-religious groups do not appear to be part of these initiatives.

    Religious freedoms are typically respected, and individuals are free to practice their faith publicly and privately.[ref] Freedom in the World Report 2023: Côte d’Ivoire, Freedom House, accessed November 2024
    https://freedomhouse.org/country/cote-divoire/freedom-world/2023[↩]

21. Dialla Konate, “La Côte d’Ivoire championne africaine de l’égalité des genres, un titre controversé”, Le Monde, 24 September 2024 https://www.lemonde.fr/afrique/article/2024/09/24/la-cote-d-ivoire-championne-africaine-de-l-egalite-des-genres-un-titre-controverse_6331203_3212.html[↩]
22. Juliana Nnoko, “Côte d’Ivoire Marriage Reform a Step for Women”, Human Rights Watch, 24 July 2019
    https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/07/24/cote-divoire-marriage-reform-step-women [↩]
23. Compilation of information prepared by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Universal Periodic Review​ – Côte d’Ivoire, Fourth Cycle 4-15 November 2024
    https://documents.un.org/doc/undoc/gen/g24/139/86/pdf/g2413986.pdf [↩]
24. Freedom in the World Report 2023: Côte d’Ivoire, Freedom House, accessed November 2024 https://freedomhouse.org/country/cote-divoire/freedom-world/2023 [↩][↩][↩]
25. Loi n° 98-757 portant répression de certaines formes de violence à l’égard des femmes, 23 December 1998, NATLEX Database, ILO
    https://natlex.ilo.org/dyn/natlex2/r/natlex/fe/details?p3_isn=65028 [↩]
26. Ministère du Plan et du Développement, La situation des femmes et des enfants en Côte d’Ivoire, September 2017 https://www.unicef.org/cotedivoire/sites/unicef.org.cotedivoire/files/2019-01/C%C3%B4te%20d%27Ivoire_MICS%202016.pdf [↩]
27. Office Français de Protection des Réfugiés et Apatrides, Côte d’Ivoire:Les mutilations sexuelles féminines, 7 March 2023 https://ofpra.gouv.fr/sites/default/files/ofpra_flora/2303_civ_msf_158204_web.pdf [↩]
28. Julien Adayé, “Ces femmes qui refusent l’excision en Côte d’Ivoire”, Deutsche Welle, 6 February 2021
    https://www.dw.com/fr/ces-femmes-qui-refusent-lexcision-en-c%C3%B4te-divoire/a-56482205[↩]
29. “Côte d’Ivoire: «Conditionner l’accès à l’avortement à une information judiciaire va être un grand frein pour les victimes»”, RFI, 10 June 2024 https://www.rfi.fr/fr/afrique/20240610-c%C3%B4te-ivoire-conditionner-acc%C3%A8s-avortement-information-judiciaire-frein-pour-les-victimes [↩]
30. “Côte d’Ivoire : une association en lien avec un groupe anti-avortement américain épinglée par openDemocracy”, franceinfo, 25 February 2022 https://www.francetvinfo.fr/monde/afrique/cote-d-ivoire/cote-d-ivoire-une-association-en-lien-avec-un-groupe-anti-avortement-americain-epinglee-par-opendemocracy_4979100.html [↩]
31. “LGBT Rights in Côte d’Ivoire”, Equaldex, accessed November 2024
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32. “Côte d’Ivoire : la nouvelle loi contre les discriminations exclut les personnes homosexuelles”, TV5Monde, 11 November 2021 https://information.tv5monde.com/afrique/cote-divoire-la-nouvelle-loi-contre-les-discriminations-exclut-les-personnes-homosexuelles [↩]
33. Dialla Konate, “La Côte d’Ivoire, un refuge fragile pour les personnes LGBT+ d’Afrique de l’Ouest”, Le Monde, 27 May 2024 https://www.lemonde.fr/afrique/article/2024/05/27/la-cote-d-ivoire-un-refuge-fragile-pour-les-personnes-lgbt-d-afrique-de-l-ouest_6235899_3212.html [↩]
34. Freedom in the World Report 2023: Côte d’Ivoire, Freedom House, accessed November 2024
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35. Marc-André Boisvert, “Côte d’Ivoire: «Ici, on rejette l’homosexualité»”, La Presse, 6 April 2014 https://www.lapresse.ca/international/afrique/201404/05/01-4754845-cote-divoire-ici-on-rejette-lhomosexualite.php [↩]
36. “En Côte d’Ivoire, des activistes s’inquiètent d’une vague d’« agressions homophobes »”, Le Monde, 5 September 2024 https://www.lemonde.fr/afrique/article/2024/09/05/en-cote-d-ivoire-des-activistes-s-inquietent-d-une-vague-d-agressions-homophobes_6304798_3212.html [↩]
37. Côte d’Ivoire : la nouvelle loi contre les discriminations exclut les personnes homosexuelles”, TV5Monde, 11 November 2021 https://information.tv5monde.com/afrique/cote-divoire-la-nouvelle-loi-contre-les-discriminations-exclut-les-personnes-homosexuelles [↩]
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43. Ordonnance 2024-368 relative à l’organisation de la société civile, Journal Officiel de la République de la Côte d’Ivoire, 21 June 2024 https://droit-et-politique-en-afrique.info/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/ORDONNANCE-n%C2%B0-2024-368-du-12-juin-2024-relative-a-lOrganisation-de-la-societe-civile.pdf [↩]
44. “La nouvelle ordonnance restreint la liberté d’association, notamment en autorisant la dissolution d’organisations”, CIVICUS, 12 October 2024 https://lens.civicus.org/interview/la-nouvelle-ordonnance-restreint-la-liberte-dassociation-notamment-en-autorisant-la-dissolution-dorganisations/ [↩]
45. Dialla Konate, “En Côte d’Ivoire, la société civile dénonce des entraves à la liberté de réunion”, Le Monde, 29 August 2024 https://www.lemonde.fr/afrique/article/2024/08/29/en-cote-d-ivoire-la-societe-civile-denonce-des-entraves-a-la-liberte-de-reunion_6298628_3212.html[↩]