Ivorians to sue France after French soliders opened fire on protesters in 2004

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00:00No official commemoration for the anniversary.

00:03Only a few members of a collective for victims

00:05gathered to lay a wreath and pray in front of Hôtel Ivoire,

00:09where protesters were killed.

00:1020 years on, they want to relaunch legal proceedings.

00:16We're bringing a complaint against France

00:17for crimes against humanity.

00:19We tried to favour the diplomatic routes,

00:22but unfortunately we've achieved nothing

00:24and the time has come for us to take responsibility

00:27and lead the battle for our compensation.

00:31On the 9th of November 2004,

00:33tensions reached a boiling point in Abidjan.

00:36French soldiers were stationed in front of the Hôtel Ivoire

00:39with armed vehicles to protect the 200 French nationals

00:42who were staying inside.

00:43Facing them, thousands of demonstrators refused to leave,

00:46convinced that France wanted to overthrow

00:48President Laurent Gbagbo,

00:50whose residence was only a few hundred metres away.

00:52After a standoff that lasted hours,

00:54soldiers fired into the crowd.

00:56French authorities acknowledged that there were casualties,

00:59but haven't disclosed figures.

01:00The victims' collective estimates 57 Ivoirians lost their lives

01:04and more than 1,000 were injured that day.

01:07Claude Soudur was shot, leading him to contract gangrene

01:10and his leg was amputated.

01:13We could hear, lie down,

01:16and that's when I was shot from the top of the Hôtel Ivoire.

01:21I came to defend the cause of my country

01:24and today, I find myself with one leg.

01:28Every night, I feel pain.

01:30Every night, I relive that situation.

01:34Initially calling it return fire,

01:36Paris eventually admitted that it was dissuasion fire,

01:39citing that the military forces securing the Hôtel Ivoire

01:42had been overwhelmed by the crowd.

01:43It was the result of four days of escalations.

01:46On the 6th of November,

01:47two Ivoirian aircraft bombed the French military base at Bouaké,

01:51killing nine French soldiers.

01:53Paris retaliated within the hour,

01:55destroying the entire Ivoirian air fleet.

01:58Anger swept through the streets of Abidjan

02:00and some French expats were attacked.

02:02Their evacuation was organised as a matter of urgency.

02:05Neither Paris nor Abidjan has made any statement

02:08commemorating the anniversary of this tragedy.

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