Crimes against humanity

The 66-year-old former Ivorian President, Laurent Gbagbo, was remanded in custody to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague early Wednesday after arriving at Rotterdam airport in the Netherlands from the Ivory Coast, where he had been under arrest since April.

Gbagbo is the first former head-of-state taken into custody by the court since it was established in 2002. His arrival at The Hague comes after the ICC served him with an international arrest warrant on Tuesday.

Gbagbo has been charged with aiding and abetting murder, rape, persecution and inhuman acts - crimes allegedly committed as his supporters fought to keep him in power last year.

"Mr. Gbagbo is brought to account for his individual responsibility in the attacks against civilians committed by forces acting on his behalf," said ICC chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo in a statement. "He is presumed innocent until proven guilty and will be given full rights and the opportunity to defend himself."

The ICC opened an investigation last month into human rights abuses in Ivory Coast. About 3,000 people died in four months of post-election violence earlier this year, which nearly plunged the country into civil war.

The conflict was triggered by Gbagbo's refusal to cede power to Alassane Ouattara after last year's presidential election. The violence ended only when French-backed pro-Ouattara forces captured Gbagbo in the capital, Abidjan, on April 11.

Both camps under investigation

Moreno-Ocampo emphasized that both sides of the political divide in Ivory Coast committed crimes in the post-election chaos and that his investigation was continuing.

"Leaders must understand that violence is no longer an option to retain or gain power. The time of impunity for these crimes is over," he said.

Gbagbo had been under house arrest in Korhogo, a remote area in northern Ivory Coast, since his capture.

Ivory Coast's new rulers had been pressing for weeks to have Gbagbo transferred to The Hague. The move comes less than two weeks before legislative elections in the country.

Author: Gregg Benzow, Joanna Impey (AFP, AP, Reuters)
Editor: Martin Kuebler