Charles Blé Goudé (born 1 February 1972) is an Ivorian political leader, born at
Guibéroua
Guibéroua is a town in south-central Ivory Coast. It is a sub-prefecture and commune of Gagnoa Department in Gôh Region
Gôh Region is one of the 31 regions of Ivory Coast. Since its establishment in 2011, it has been one of two regions in G ...
, in the centre west of the country. He is currently on trial at the
International Criminal Court
The International Criminal Court (ICC or ICCt) is an intergovernmental organization and international tribunal seated in The Hague, Netherlands. It is the first and only permanent international court with jurisdiction to prosecute individuals f ...
Laurent Gbagbo
Koudou Laurent Gbagbo , FPI website . ( University of Cocody
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...
(Cocody is a Commune of
Abidjan
Abidjan ( , ; N’ko: ߊߓߌߖߊ߲߬) is the economic capital of the Ivory Coast. As of the 2021 census, Abidjan's population was 6.3 million, which is 21.5 percent of overall population of the country, making it the sixth most populous city p ...
FPI FPI may refer to:
Government and politics
* Federal Prison Industries, a US government corporation which employs prison labor
* Foreign Policy Initiative, an American think tank
* Foreign Policy Institute, a Turkish think tank
* The Foreign P ...
during the 1990s. He succeeded
Guillaume Soro
Guillaume Kigbafori Soro (born 8 May 1972) is an Ivorian politician who was the Prime Minister of Côte d'Ivoire from April 2007 to March 2012. Prior to his service as Prime Minister, Soro led the Patriotic Movement of Côte d'Ivoire, and late ...
as the Secretary General of FESCI from 1998 to 2000. He later founded the ''Coordination des Jeunes Patriotes'' in 2001, and the
Congrès Panafricain des Jeunes et des Patriotes
The Congrès Panafricain des Jeunes et des Patriotes (''COJEP''), commonly known as Young Patriots, of Ivory Coast is the name given to a youth movement supportive of then President of Ivory Coast, Laurent Gbagbo and his ruling Ivorian Popular Fr ...
(COJEP) in the same year. Blé had completed a university degree in English by this time, and later began a master's degree in Conflict Resolution Studies from
Manchester University
, mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity
, established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univer ...
, which he never completed. Having received news of the rebellion on 19 September 2002, he left England for Côte d'Ivoire, where he founded the Alliance des Jeunes Patriotes pour le Sursaut National, which he directed with Serge Kuyo, an organization which he described as a ''pressure group''. He is widely known and referred to as the "Street General" because of his capacity in igniting crowds.
Nationalist resistance
Blé played a significant role in Ivoirian politics as a supporter of the ideas and policies of
Laurent Gbagbo
Koudou Laurent Gbagbo , FPI website . ( French peacekeeping troops from Côte d'Ivoire, and during June he organized a sit-in outside the headquarters of the French 43e bataillon d'infanterie de marine in Port-Bouët in Abidjan.
Early in November 2004, after the peace agreement had effectively collapsed following the rebels' refusal to disarm, Laurent Gbagbo ordered airstrikes against the rebels. During one of these airstrikes in Bouaké, a French base (in a school) was targeted and French soldiers were hit and nine of them were killed, along with an American NGO worker; the Ivorian government claimed it was an error and ordered an investigation to be carried out, but the French claimed it was a deliberate attack. They responded by destroying most Ivoirian military aircraft, and violent retaliatory riots against the French, and those perceived to be French, broke out in Abidjan.
During the week from 31 October to 5 November 2004, Blé and his supporters intensified their recruitment of supporters. On 6 November, amidst an upsurge of anti-Western propaganda from the government controlled Radio Télévision Ivoirienne and newspapers such as '' Le Courrier d'Abidjan'', the Jeunes Patriotes came out into the streets, attacking targets they thought supported European interests, especially the French Military and civilians. Attempts by these nationalist groups to seize the airport and the city centre, which were occupied by the French Army, failed. Blé, claiming the French military was attempting a coup against the Ivorian government, urged his supporters to surround Abidjan airport, and to form a human chain around the residence of President Gbagbo, near the Hôtel Ivoire. In the demonstrations that followed attacks on French and other international expatriates living in Côte d'Ivoire intensified and culminated in a French led evacuation of many expatriates civilians from the country. There were many reports of white nationals (Europeans and Lebanese) being attacked and women raped by the militia.
January 2006 events
On 16 January 2006, Blé's Young Patriots were involved in demonstrations against the UN, and in one incident, at least four were killed after fire allegedly from the UN peacekeeper's camp. The crisis began after UN mediators called for the
National Assembly of Côte d'Ivoire
The National Assembly is lower house of the Parliament of Ivory Coast since November 2016. From 1960 to 2016, the National Assembly was Ivory Coast's unicameral legislative body. Evolved from semi-representative bodies of the French Colonial p ...
to be dissolved and for Gbagbo's mandate to end.
During the days that followed, two thousand youths clashed with UN peacekeepers. The Young Patriots went to the offices of Côte d'Ivoire's state-owned television company, RTI, and repeatedly broadcast messages to encourage protests against the UN in
Daloa
Daloa is a city in western Ivory Coast. It is the seat of both the Sassandra-Marahoué District and the Haut-Sassandra Region. It is also the seat of and a sub-prefecture of Daloa Department. Daloa is also a commune. In the 2014 census, the city ...
, as well as French military. They also reportedly ransacked a community radio station, Radio Tchrato-Daloa which had refused to let them in, as well as besieging a UN base and the French Embassy for two days, until on 20 January, Blé called for them to go home and "clean up the streets". He was famously quoted as saying ''"Chacun son blanc"'' ("to each his white man").
Ivorian Peace Process
After 2006, Blé continued to play a leading role in nationalist politics. His public conflicts with other nationalists and members of Laurent Gbagbo's
FPI FPI may refer to:
Government and politics
* Federal Prison Industries, a US government corporation which employs prison labor
* Foreign Policy Initiative, an American think tank
* Foreign Policy Institute, a Turkish think tank
* The Foreign P ...
, as well as continued attacks on opposition supporters by the jeunes patriotes, kept him in the public eye.
In May 2007, Blé accepted the government title of "Ivorian Peace Ambassador" and travelled around the country supposedly to preach reconciliation. Blé has said that he models himself on Kwame Nkrumah,
Patrice Lumumba
Patrice Émery Lumumba (; 2 July 1925 – 17 January 1961) was a Congolese politician and independence leader who served as the first prime minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (then known as the Republic of the Congo) from June u ...
and
Thomas Sankara
Thomas Isidore Noël Sankara (; 21 December 1949 – 15 October 1987) was a Burkinabé military officer, Marxist–Leninist revolutionary, and Pan-Africanist, who served as President of Burkina Faso from his coup in 1983 to his deposition a ...
.
In the two years of run-up to the often delayed (by the FPI) United Nations supervised Presidential Election, Blé campaigned and organized for Laurent Gbagbo, both as head of the FPI youth wing, and as a close adviser of the First Lady
Simone Gbagbo
Simone Ehivet Gbagbo (born 20 June 1949), National Assembly website (2007 archive page) . is an Ivorian politician. She is the President of the Parliamentary Group of the Ivorian Popular Front (FPI) and is a Vice-President of the FPI. As the wif ...
, and as head of COJEP.
2010 and 2011 events
In 2010, Blé was nominated as Minister for Sports and Youth by the government of Laurent Gbagbo. He recruited some 5,000 pro-Gbagbo youth into the Ivorian Army and after only four weeks of training, arming them with AK47s, and putting them out on the streets of Côte d'Ivoire.
2013: beginning of the end
Blé was arrested on 17 January 2013 in Ghana, under a CPI arrest warrant, by members of the Ghanaian Police accompanied by Interpol agents, and surrendered to the Ghanaian authorities; he was flown to Abidjan the next day. He appeared in the Abidjan High Court on 21 January 2013 and was charged with war crimes, assassinations, endangering state security, and stealing state property. He was remanded in custody.
2014 to present: International Criminal Court
On 22 March 2014, Côte d'Ivoire extradited Blé to the
International Criminal Court
The International Criminal Court (ICC or ICCt) is an intergovernmental organization and international tribunal seated in The Hague, Netherlands. It is the first and only permanent international court with jurisdiction to prosecute individuals f ...
in
The Hague
The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...
to face charges of crimes against humanity. His case was combined with that of Laurent Gbagbo; their trial commenced on 28 January 2016. On 15 January 2019 Gbagbo and Goudé were acquitted by the ICC and their release was ordered.
In September 2021, The Defense of Charles Blé Goudé claimed 819,300 euros in damages for the long legal proceedings suffered by their Charles Blé Goudé.
Quotes
* "France will come to know a Second Algerian war"
''Le Courrier d'Abidjan'', 23 April 2004;
* "I don't want to see ''Le Patriote'', ''Le Libéral'' and the papers of the RDR in news stands beginning Monday. I will assume all the consequences."
TF1, May 2004;
* On
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
: "I've reached the point today where I don't believe anymore that Hitler was bad, or that Milosevic is bad. Because these same sources that present Hitler and Milosevic as criminals, that tell me today that we Ivoirian patriots who are suffering in the rebellion, who are torturers, they say that it's really the rebels who are our victims." ''Le Patriote'' (Newspaper of the RDR), 12 May 2004
* On Kofi Annan "A disgrace for Africa" AFP - 23 April 2004
* On rebel leader
Guillaume Soro
Guillaume Kigbafori Soro (born 8 May 1972) is an Ivorian politician who was the Prime Minister of Côte d'Ivoire from April 2007 to March 2012. Prior to his service as Prime Minister, Soro led the Patriotic Movement of Côte d'Ivoire, and late ...
: "I realise that he's close to his grave." ''Le Temps'', 27 July 2004;
* In response to the question : "What disciplinary measures are you going to take against the Young Patriots found guilty of raping European women?":
** "The Young Patriots are not guilty of rapes, neither are they guilty of looting suffered by the French. The French army organised the looting in cooperation with prisoners who have been freed."
Forum organised by the French weekly ''Nouvel-Observateur'', 1 December 2004;
* On the UN :
** "Between us and the UN forces, it's war"
''L'Intelligent d'Abidjan'', 23 avril 2004;
** "If the UN forces don't make their position clearer, we're going to pursue them. We'll make them suffer their own Algeria."
''L'Inter'', 23 avril 2004;
** "We, the youth of Côte d'Ivoire, meeting today, are asking all the young Ivorians wherever they may be to give the UN the greatest revolt it has ever experienced."
24 Heures, 11 May 2004;
*"I call on all of you to go and free our airport. If you're asleep, wake up. If you're eating, put down your fork. I'm not asking you to go and attack the French who came to live among us. Many French marched with us against the rebellion. Come and free the airport. Abidjan isn't a district of Paris".
Public statement, November 6, 2004
Wikisource
Wikisource is an online digital library of free-content textual sources on a wiki, operated by the Wikimedia Foundation. Wikisource is the name of the project as a whole and the name for each instance of that project (each instance usually re ...
European University Center for Peace Studies
The European University Center for Peace Studies offered postgraduate political studies from 1990 to 2013 in Stadtschlaining, Austria.
The institution was founded in 1988 by Gerald Mader in his capacity as president of the ASPR, with the support ...