Trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court on Jan. 15 acquitted former Côte d'Ivoire president Laurent Gbagbo [11] and Charles Blé Goudé, his former youth minister. Gbagbo and Blé Goudé were accused of four counts of crimes against humanity related to violence following a disputed 2010 election that left 3,000 dead and 500,000 displaced. Gbagbo was arrested in 2011 in a presidential palace bunker by UN and French-backed forces supporting his rival, Alassane Ouattara. He was the first former head of state to face trial at the ICC. The Chamber ordered both accused to be immediately released. A prosecution request to extend Gbagbo's custody pending appeal was rejected. "The acquittal of Gbagbo and Blé Goudé will be seen as a crushing disappointment to victims of post-election violence in Cote d'Ivoire," said Amnesty International in a statement. (BBC News [12], Reuters [13], Amnesty International [14], ICC [9] press release)
Since the Rome Statute took effect in 2002, only two defendants have been convicted [15] by the ICC—both from Democratic Republic of Congo. President Omar Bashir [16] of Sudan, wanted by the ICC for genocide, remains at large and in power. Former Chad dictator Hissène Habré [17] was convicted of crimes against humanity by an African Union court in 2016.
