Cote D’Ivoire

Elections are a sham, to the point where the real, mainstream political opposition does not have a realistic chance to meaningfully compete and possibly win. The regime systematically bars Ouattara’s most serious political opponents from the presidential ballot through its control of the electoral and judicial institutions, with the authority to validate the eligibility of presidential candidates and the results of national elections. As a result, Ouattara has claimed landslide victories in the 2015, 2020, and 2025 presidential elections, each of which has taken place without Ouattara’s most serious political opponent(s) and a partial opposition boycott.

Independent media, political leaders, civil society leaders, organizations, and regular people are seriously and unfairly hindered in their ability to openly criticize or challenge the regime. Freedom of speech is increasingly under threat since the adoption of the 2022 laws criminalizing defamation deemed to threaten the national interest and the publication of false news.

Institutions largely fail to serve as independent checks on the regime. The nation’s highest court, the Constitutional Council, has consistently ruled in favor of the regime in matters of national elections and validating its constitutional amendments, including disqualifying five prominent opposition candidates from the 2025 presidential race. Accountability for government officials is rare; In the aftermath of the civil war, the courts focused prosecutions exclusively on leaders and members of the defeated Gbagbo regime while failing to prosecute anyone from Ouattara’s victorious side.