A United Nations-appointed Independent Commission of Inquiry, set up to investigate serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law in Côte d'Ivoire since September 2002, arrived in the West African country today

The five-member team, led by Gerard Balanda of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and accompanied by its secretariat and forensic experts, was scheduled to listen to testimony in the region for about three months.

The other team members were vice-chair Radhia Nazraoui of Tunisia, Aref Mohamed Aref of Djibouti, Fatima Mbaye of Mauritania and Almiro Rodrigues of Portugal.

The investigators will present their report to UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour, who will then turn it over to Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

Fierce fighting broke out in Côte d'Ivoire on 19 September 2002 and ended with a peace agreement signed in Linas-Marcoussis, France, in January 2003.