CONTACT Based in Istanbul, Turkey. Available for assignment. E-mail: renaeffendi@gmail.com
This project commissioned by the International Criminal Court (ICC) contextualizes the work of ICC in Cote d'Ivoire and Central African Republic towards investigating and prosecuting crimes against humanity and war crimes perpetrated by the various armed militias in the course of several conflicts in the recent history of these two countries. In Cote d'Ivoire in 2011, Abidjan was the epicenter of violence between the forces loyal to the former president Laurent Gbagbo and supporters of the internationally recognized elected president Allassane Outtara. While violence has resurged in the capital of Central African Republic - Bangui, where legacy of sectarian strife between Muslim Séléka and Christian anti-balaka militias casts a long shadow over the country’s future.
Témoin Yego Alphonse, 25 years old. Abidjan. Alphonse was 17 years old...READ ON
Témoin Yego Alphonse, 25 years old. Abidjan. Alphonse was 17 years old when he lost both his hands to a granade explosion. He was visiting his friend whose father was a deseased militiaman. There was still weapons and ammunition piled in their home after the father's death. Alphonse's friend took him into the room with ammunition and threw a granade at him to have him catch it playfully. That's when the granade exploded and Alphonse had realized that both his hands were blown off and only attached by nerves. His abdomen was also injured in the blast and his intestines fell out. Alphonse was nursed back to health by his parents, but both have passed on. After several surgeries and years of recuperation Alphonse moved to Abidjan to start a new life. "I don't have the hands, but my legs are working well" - he jokes. Alphonse is training to be an athlete and attends bible classes during the day. Abidjan. December 2018
Témoin Yego Alphonse, 25 years old. Abidjan. Alphonse was 17 years old...READ ON
Témoin Yego Alphonse, 25 years old. Abidjan. Alphonse was 17 years old when he lost both his hands to a granade explosion. He was visiting his friend whose father was a deseased militiaman. There was still weapons and ammunition piled in their home after the father's death. Alphonse's friend took him into the room with ammunition and threw a granade at him to have him catch it playfully. That's when the granade exploded and Alphonse had realized that both his hands were blown off and only attached by nerves. His abdomen was also injured in the blast and his intestines fell out. Alphonse was nursed back to health by his parents, but both have passed on. After several surgeries and years of recuperation Alphonse moved to Abidjan to start a new life. "I don't have the hands, but my legs are working well" - he jokes. Alphonse is training to be an athlete and attends bible classes during the day. Abidjan. December 2018
Street scenes around Attecoube neighborhood which was targeted by Gbagbo...READ ON
Street scenes around Attecoube neighborhood which was targeted by Gbagbo forces as it was believed to be a stronghold of Outtara. Abidjan, Cote D'Ivoire November 2018
KOUASSI AYE Elise in Abidjan Yopoupon district. Elise's neighborhood was...READ ON
KOUASSI AYE Elise in Abidjan Yopoupon district. Elise's neighborhood was under siege during the conflict. She was hungry and decided to venture out to get some food. On her way she encountered two men in military fatigues. They attacked her and in spite of her pleas to let her go because she's recently undergone abdominal surgeries, they brutalized and raped her one after another. They beat and scared her with knifes and left her bleeding in an abandoned building. She managed to get to safety and at the hospital she only adressed her head trauma and other bodily injuries, but did not not report the rape crime out of shame. "I was with a man then I did not want to let him know that other men had taken my body". Some time later Elise began to feel weak and get sick often, she lost a lot of weight. A friend suggested she takes an HIV test and it turned out to be positive. She let her boyfriend know and he left her. Many of her friends turned away from her. She is taking retroviral treatment now and lives alone in Yopoupon hoping to start a small business in her neighborhood in order to get by. Abidjan. December 2018
BLOHANHI Gousseiyaga Élodie 33 years old, victim of the 2002 conflict....READ ON
BLOHANHI Gousseiyaga Élodie 33 years old, victim of the 2002 conflict. Elodie was 17 years old in 2002 when on her way to her aunt's home in Duekue when the city became under attack by armed militias. She and a few of her other girlfriends were ambushed by four armed men and raped. The men threw chemicals on Elodie's eyes and she felt excruciating pain and burning. After several days left wounded and untreated in the hospital, since all the doctors fled the war, Eloide's vision deteriorated and over time she turned blind. Elodie is 33 now since she learned to cook in early childhood she is still comfortable in the kitchen in spite of her blindness. She is helping her mother and sister with their small business of catering. She prepares food daily to be sold later at the local market.
BLOHANHI Gousseiyaga Élodie 33 years old, victim of the 2002 conflict....READ ON
BLOHANHI Gousseiyaga Élodie 33 years old, victim of the 2002 conflict. Elodie was 17 years old in 2002 when on her way to her aunt's home in Duekue when the city became under attack by armed militias. She and a few of her other girlfriends were ambushed by four armed men and raped. The men threw chemicals on Elodie's eyes and she felt excruciating pain and burning. After several days left wounded and untreated in the hospital, since all the doctors fled the war, Eloide's vision deteriorated and over time she turned blind. Elodie is 33 now since she learned to cook in early childhood she is still comfortable in the kitchen in spite of her blindness. She is helping her mother and sister with their small business of catering. She prepares food daily to be sold later at the local market.
Street scenes around Attecoube neighborhood which was targeted by Gbagbo...READ ON
Street scenes around Attecoube neighborhood which was targeted by Gbagbo forces as it was believed to be a stronghold of Outtara. Abidjan, Cote D'Ivoire November 2018
Tour Clemence 34 y.o. widow, she was 8 months pregnant when militants came to...READ ON
Tour Clemence 34 y.o. widow, she was 8 months pregnant when militants came to Anokoua Koute neighborhood of Abidjan where she lived with her husband. Most women men took off and the women and chidlren ran hiding in the nearby churches. Tour's husband was still home and he came out to negotiate with armed militants, asking them to leave. But instead of letting him go, they grabbed him and decapitated him in front of his pregnant wife. Abidjan, Cote D'Ivoire. November, 2018
Tour Clemence 34 y.o. widow, she was 8 months pregnant when militants came to...READ ON
Tour Clemence 34 y.o. widow, she was 8 months pregnant when militants came to Anokoua Koute neighborhood of Abidjan where she lived with her husband. Most women men took off and the women and chidlren ran hiding in the nearby churches. Tour's husband was still home and he came out to negotiate with armed militants, asking them to leave. But instead of letting him go, they grabbed him and decapitated him in front of his pregnant wife. Abidjan, Cote D'Ivoire. November, 2018
Widows of Anokoua Koute neighborhood in Abidjan make kasava as they organized...READ ON
Widows of Anokoua Koute neighborhood in Abidjan make kasava as they organized themselves into a small enterprise producing kasava powder and selling it in the local market. According to the women, all of their husbands and most men of the neighborhood were killed by the militants in 2011 during the crisis. While the neighborhood was under siege for 3 months the women ran off, on the morning of the attack they ran to hide in nearby churches, several homes were burnt down and looted. When the women came back home, many found their husbands dead or missing. Women have now set up kasava powder production in the shells of destroyed homes.
AKA AKISSI Jeanne 53 y.o. widow with two sons. "We were in Boko in the...READ ON
AKA AKISSI Jeanne 53 y.o. widow with two sons. "We were in Boko in the north of Ivory Coast, during the attacks the men were targeted while the women and children took refuge. In 2002, my husband and his friends came across a group of armed men who robbed them and then beat some of them to death. They hit my husband's head and split his skull, they thought he was dead and left him. We found him and transported him to the nearest town of Touba. In the hospital he only received medication because the doctors were absent due of the crisis. Three days later we transported him to the next big city where the situation was the same. Meanwhile, for lack of care, his condition worsened from day to day. After 10 days we arrived in Abidjan where he was finally attended by doctors. After his surgery he had to be transferred to the psychiatric hospital. He did not recognize me anymore. In a few months he died. From the day of his attack to the day of his death he never regained his wits." Abidjan, Cote D'Ivoire November 2018
Hamed Diomande, 47 y.o. was injured by the militants during the 2011 crisis....READ ON
Hamed Diomande, 47 y.o. was injured by the militants during the 2011 crisis. After his neighborhood became under siege for a few days, he went out in search of food with his wife and three children. The family was attacked on the street, his wife was raped in front of him and his children. Before letting them go, one of the militants told Hamed he would like to give him a 'suvenir' of their meeting and pointed a gun at him. Hamed grabbed the barrel of the gun trying to deflect the bullet and the man shot him in his hand ripping it to shreds. Hamed rushed to the local hospital, but it was chaotic and overflowing with people injured in the attacks. Doctors performed a hasty surgery on Hamed's hand without connecting the muscles and tendons properly. He has not been able to regain mobility of his hand ever since. Upon his return from the hospital he was not able to find his family. HIs wife and chilren fled and never came back, he's been searching for them in refugee camps ever since, but so far unsuccessfully. Hamed is unemployed as he is facing difficulties finding work with his disability. Abidjan, Cote D'Ivoire. November 2018
Peaceful scenes along the Ubangu river overlooking Congo DRC on the opposite bank.
Gervais Dedane, 24 y.o. father of four children and carpenter in Boy Rabe....READ ON
Gervais Dedane, 24 y.o. father of four children and carpenter in Boy Rabe. Wife: Chancelle 22 y.o. Children: Dorcas 10 y.o Christelle 9 y.o. Adora 7 y.o. Gabriella 1 y.o. Gervais and his family have lived in Boy Rabe all their lives. During the crisis, as violence broke out in Boy Rabe when the Seleka entered the neighborhood he was home with his wife, but he sent her off with the children to hide inside the local church. Armed men approached him asking if he was Anti-Balaka, he told them that he was not, but they still shot him in the face. The bullet entered under his ear and passed through his skull exiting through his eye. He fell down and lay for hours bleeding and unconscious until his sister discovered him and rushed him to the hospital. On the way to the hospital they had to pass another Seleka checkpoint where they were questioned again, but his sister managed to convince the men to let them through. Gervais survived and recovered, but he lost his eye. In spite of his injuries, he continues to work as a carpenter making chairs, window and door frames for the people in his neighborhood. He is the only breadwinner for his family and takes pride in his work.
Gervais Dedane, 24 y.o. father of four children and carpenter in Boy Rabe....READ ON
Gervais Dedane, 24 y.o. father of four children and carpenter in Boy Rabe. Wife: Chancelle 22 y.o. Children: Dorcas 10 y.o Christelle 9 y.o. Adora 7 y.o. Gabriella 1 y.o. Gervais and his family have lived in Boy Rabe all their lives. During the crisis, as violence broke out in Boy Rabe when the Seleka entered the neighborhood he was home with his wife, but he sent her off with the children to hide inside the local church. Armed men approached him asking if he was Anti-Balaka, he told them that he was not, but they still shot him in the face. The bullet entered under his ear and passed through his skull exiting through his eye. He fell down and lay for hours bleeding and unconscious until his sister discovered him and rushed him to the hospital. On the way to the hospital they had to pass another Seleka checkpoint where they were questioned again, but his sister managed to convince the men to let them through. Gervais survived and recovered, but he lost his eye. In spite of his injuries, he continues to work as a carpenter making chairs, window and door frames for the people in his neighborhood. He is the only breadwinner for his family and takes pride in his work.
Muslim, double victim of gender-based violence Aisha Souleman 39 y.o. Single...READ ON
Muslim, double victim of gender-based violence Aisha Souleman 39 y.o. Single mother of 3 children. In 2004 Bembe’s men entered PK12 where she was living at the time with her family. It was early in the morning people were still asleep as the men swept through the neighborhood killing, pillaging and raping indiscriminately. They came to Aisha’s home she was with her brother and her brother’s wife. They hit her brother and shot him in the legs and then raped Aisha and her brother’s wife. Aisha was gang-raped by five of Bembe’s men. The family later moved to an area of Combatant to start a new chapter for Aisha. They kept the incident a secret in order for her to marry. On February 24, 2014 Aisha was married with three children and four-month pregnant with her fourth child. Armed anti-Balaka men broke into her home while her husband was not there. They threatened to kill one of her children if she didn’t come with them. In this manner they abducted Aisha taking her to an abandoned building where they sat her down for interrogation. One of the leaders then took her to a room where he raped and brutalized her by penetrating her with a hand grenade. She was then taken to a shed and was kept locked there with a plan be killed in the morning. However, the man who was assigned to guard her said: “I don’t approve of this. I am going to keep the door open at night, if you are strong enough to run, then run!” Aisha ran in her underwear until she reached a neighborhood where she had some female friends who took care of her and gave her clothes. As a result of rape Aisha had a miscarriage. Her husband found out about the rape and left her and their three children. Aisha lives in her parental home, she has not seen her husband since the incident and does not know where he is.
Muslim, double victim of gender-based violence Aisha Souleman 39 y.o. Single...READ ON
Muslim, double victim of gender-based violence Aisha Souleman 39 y.o. Single mother of 3 children. In 2004 Bembe’s men entered PK12 where she was living at the time with her family. It was early in the morning people were still asleep as the men swept through the neighborhood killing, pillaging and raping indiscriminately. They came to Aisha’s home she was with her brother and her brother’s wife. They hit her brother and shot him in the legs and then raped Aisha and her brother’s wife. Aisha was gang-raped by five of Bembe’s men. The family later moved to an area of Combatant to start a new chapter for Aisha. They kept the incident a secret in order for her to marry. On February 24, 2014 Aisha was married with three children and four-month pregnant with her fourth child. Armed anti-Balaka men broke into her home while her husband was not there. They threatened to kill one of her children if she didn’t come with them. In this manner they abducted Aisha taking her to an abandoned building where they sat her down for interrogation. One of the leaders then took her to a room where he raped and brutalized her by penetrating her with a hand grenade. She was then taken to a shed and was kept locked there with a plan be killed in the morning. However, the man who was assigned to guard her said: “I don’t approve of this. I am going to keep the door open at night, if you are strong enough to run, then run!” Aisha ran in her underwear until she reached a neighborhood where she had some female friends who took care of her and gave her clothes. As a result of rape Aisha had a miscarriage. Her husband found out about the rape and left her and their three children. Aisha lives in her parental home, she has not seen her husband since the incident and does not know where he is.
Muslim child victim #2. Affiza Mabou 21 y.o. On December 5, 2013 she was...READ ON
Muslim child victim #2. Affiza Mabou 21 y.o. On December 5, 2013 she was sixteen years old and coming back from school at the Kete Goussa market. She was walking home with her friend when they came across four Anti-Balaka men. They raped both girls and were set on killing them, but the people of the neighborhood pled with them to let the children go.
Banam Esther 34 y.o. “It happened around PK12, I was running errands...READ ON
Banam Esther 34 y.o. “It happened around PK12, I was running errands and bringing goods in a tray that I carried on my head. Three armed Seleka men approached me and told me not to move. I thought I was being robbed, but one of them ordered me to lie down. He ripped my clothes off and the other two encouraged him to rape me, which he did. Everyone in my family knows what happened to me. My husband accepted it and told me to forget and move on. Everyone is showing me support.
Christian victim. Marceline Bero 53 y.o. a widow and a mother of 7 children...READ ON
Christian victim. Marceline Bero 53 y.o. a widow and a mother of 7 children (one child died) lives alone in a rented home in Damala quarter near the Bangui airport. Her husband’s family after they found out that she was brutalized and raped by 2 Seleka rebels in 2012 eventually insisted it would be better that the children don’t live with their mother. “They come to see me when they are hungry”- Marceline said. She gets by on her own by selling peanuts at the local market. On April 11 early morning around 4 a.m. several men on top of a vehicle stopped in front of Marceline’s house. They entered the room where she hid under the bed. One of the men dragged her out and demanded that she undressed, she refused and he hit her. She fell down and he proceeded to rape her while the others were looting her home. This took place in PK 12 in Bangui, most people from the neighborhood fled to Don Bosco. She eventually fled as well.
Banam Esther 34 y.o. “It happened around PK12, I was running errands...READ ON
Banam Esther 34 y.o. “It happened around PK12, I was running errands and bringing goods in a tray that I carried on my head. Three armed Seleka men approached me and told me not to move. I thought I was being robbed, but one of them ordered me to lie down. He ripped my clothes off and the other two encouraged him to rape me, which he did. Everyone in my family knows what happened to me. My husband accepted it and told me to forget and move on. Everyone is showing me support.
Sunset on Ubangui river scenes of peace people washing and doing laundry and children fishing
Madam Sara Mbango 58 y.o. Catering business woman from Cameroon. Madam Sara...READ ON
Madam Sara Mbango 58 y.o. Catering business woman from Cameroon. Madam Sara married a man from Central African Republic whom she met in Cameroon and she went back to his country with him. When they arrived she realized he already had a wife and children, which he kept secret from her before. He brought her to live with his other wife. She could not leave as she was pregnant with their second child. But after having a third child she lost the support of her husband and decided to go back to Cameroon with all three of her children. She came back after three years and invested in a business by opening a cafe in Bangui. It was going well in the beginning until the conflict broke out and she was robbed by both Seleka and Anti-Balaka of all her belongings. She tried to recover the business since then but it was not the same. She is now forced to keep all her plates and utensils locked in her bedroom overnight.
Sunset on Ubangui river scenes of peace people washing and doing laundry and children fishing
Sunset on Ubangui river overlooking Congo DRC
This project commissioned by the International Criminal Court (ICC) contextualizes the work of ICC in Cote d'Ivoire and Central African Republic towards investigating and prosecuting crimes against humanity and war crimes perpetrated by the various armed militias in the course of several conflicts in the recent history of these two countries. In Cote d'Ivoire in 2011, Abidjan was the epicenter of violence between the forces loyal to the former president Laurent Gbagbo and supporters of the internationally recognized elected president Allassane Outtara. While violence has resurged in the capital of Central African Republic - Bangui, where legacy of sectarian strife between Muslim Séléka and Christian anti-balaka militias casts a long shadow over the country’s future.
Rena Effendi
Rena Effendi social documentary photography. Award winning photographer and photojournalist. Books, fine art prints, portraits, magazine stories