Côte d’Ivoire: The authorities must stop stifling peaceful protests ahead of presidential election
Ivorian authorities must respect and protect the right to protest and allow peaceful rallies to take place, Amnesty International said today, after security forces dispersed a peaceful protest in Abidjan, and arrested 255 people, ahead of the 25 October presidential election.
On 2 October 2025, the National Security Council announced that all ‘necessary measures’ would be taken to maintain order and security during the election period, including banning any meeting and public protest to challenge the Constitutional Council’s decisions. Following this announcement, the Prefect of Abidjan, the commercial capital, banned a peaceful rally organized by the opposition for 4 October and another one planned for 11 October.
“The use of blanket bans on protests is a stark failure of the Ivorian authorities to uphold the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly. Such blanket bans are presumptively disproportionate and violate the provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights, both ratified by Côte d’Ivoire,” said Marceau Sivieude, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for West and Central Africa.
