André Okombi Salissa, former member of the National Assembly and president of CADD, was arrested and detained at the General Directorate of Territorial Surveillance after spending almost a year in hiding. Also in January, Noël Mienanzambi Boyi, president of the Association for the Culture of Peace and Non-Violence and a broadcaster for a community radio station, was arrested in Kinkala, the main town in Pool. The authorities claimed that he was transporting medicine and food to Reverend Ntumi, and charged him with “complicity in undermining state security”. Local NGOs said that he was arrested after he agreed to organize mediation between the authorities and Reverend Ntumi on the government’s request. They also alleged that he was tortured in various detention centres before being transferred to Brazzaville central prison in June where he remained at the end of the year. TORTURE AND OTHER ILL-TREATMENT Several cases of torture and other illtreatment by security services were reported. No investigations or judicial proceedings into these allegations were conducted by the authorities. On 24 January, Modeste Boukadia, president of the opposition Congolese Circle of Democrats and Republicans, was admitted to Clinique Guénin in Pointe Noire city as a result of injuries he sustained when prison guards beat him at Pointe Noire prison in November 2016. The beating resulted in two fractured bones, and caused him to have high blood pressure and a heart condition. INTERNALLY DISPLACED PEOPLE Following fighting between government forces and the Ninjas armed group, around a third of residents in Pool fled their homes. An estimated 81,000 people were IDPs; 59,000 of them were registered displaced in 2017. IDPs were in dire need of shelter, food, water, basic health services and adequate sanitation. They were forced to live with families in host communities, on church 136 grounds, in public buildings, or in overcrowded makeshift sites. REFUGEES AND ASYLUM-SEEKERS The refugee status of around 10,000 Rwandan refugees expired on 31 December, under the Cessation Clause for Rwandan refugees, on the grounds that Rwanda was a safe country. Some of the refugees may be permitted to choose between voluntary repatriation and residency in their host countries, or otherwise retain their refugee status if they fulfill certain criteria. RIGHT TO FOOD According to the UN, 138,000 people in Pool required humanitarian assistance, and over 50% of families were food insecure. Global Acute Malnutrition − the measurement of the nutritional status of those in long-term refugee situations – affected between 17.3 and 20.4% of IDP children aged under five who fled from Pool. CÔTE D’IVOIRE Republic of Côte d’Ivoire Head of state: Alassane Dramane Ouattara Head of government: Amadou Gon Coulibaly (replaced Daniel Kablan Duncan in January) Around 200 detainees, loyal to former President Laurent Gbagbo, awaited trial in connection with post-electoral violence in 2010 and 2011. Killings in the context of mutinies and clashes between demobilized soldiers and security forces were uninvestigated. The rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly were restricted; some protests were prohibited. Simone Gbagbo, wife of former President Gbagbo, was acquitted of crimes against humanity and war crimes. The ICC tried Laurent Gbagbo and Charles Blé Goudé. BACKGROUND The UN Operation in Côte d’Ivoire (UNOCI) concluded its mission in June, 13 years after Amnesty International Report 2017/18