The Structure of Agency in the Practice of Sacrifice: Why Ivoirian Hunters Became Police at the Turn of the Twenty-First Century

Abstract

Since the end of Côte d’Ivoire’s 2010-2011 civil war, Dozo hunters who fought for Alassane Ouattara have found themselves in a tenuous position. The Ouattara regime has largely excluded them from the Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration process, diminishing their chances of integrating into State military and security forces. Meanwhile, human rights organizations have accused Dozos as a group of participating in wartime atrocities, even if it was difficult for witnesses to distinguish Dozos from other rebels. This unwitting collusion of human rights organizations and the State has helped legitimize the new regime’s attempts to weed out allegedly rogue elements ˗ Dozos ˗ as a step toward reestablishing the rule of law. In fact, Dozos enjoyed a status during the civil war on par with that of other former rebels who now occupy the Ivoirian army and police. Differentiating Dozos from other ex-combatants, therefore, makes a distinction without a difference. Moreover, stereotypes of Dozos as a destabilizing, occult militia obscure their historical ties to the State when Dozos played unofficial police roles in the 1990s. While human rights organizations must investigate charges of war crimes against Dozos and other former rebels, they can avoid complicity with the State by refusing to portray Dozos as irregular combatants to the exclusion of all others. Unraveling such complexities will only clarify the nature of Dozos’ involvement in their purported atrocities while unveiling contradictions within both human rights discourse and Ivoirian democracy.