FEATURE By Clar Ni Chonghaile
ABIDJAN, Oct 30 (Reuters) - At the back of a deserted bar, a human rights activist speaks softly about police abuses in Ivory Coast, pausing discreetly when the waiter approaches.
The activist is nervous. Less than a week before the interview, Sergeant Theodore Sery shot French journalist Jean Helene in the back of the head outside a police station, not far from the bar in the West African country's main city Abidjan.
"We say to ourselves that if even whites, who are usually respected more by the police, can be killed then it's very serious," said the Ivorian campaigner. "We are very afraid."
Helene's murder focused attention on a society where civil war has fostered impunity, deepened hatreds and heightened fear. At the centre of the storm, although by no means the only culprits, are the security forces.
The killing last week managed to shock even in a city where shadowy death squads kidnapped and killed scores of opposition supporters at the height of the civil war, which started with a rebel uprising last year.
It did so because it seemed a new line had been crossed.
"The police fear nothing and nobody. They are above the law. They are above everything... Covered as they are by the impunity rooted in the management of the state," said the independent daily newspaper 24 Hours.
"State violence cannot be separated from impunity. Impunity spreads like gangrene," said the human rights activist, who did not want to give his name for fear of retaliation. He said he had already noticed people spying on him.
IMPUNITY ON THE RISE
Helene, who worked for Paris-based Radio France Internationale, is the latest victim of police brutality.
Human rights groups say abuses have been rising since Ivory Coast's first coup in 1999, when an army general backed by rank and file soldiers seized power.
Violent elections followed and Ivory Coast's reputation as a stable success story in volatile West Africa lay in tatters.
In 2001, the human rights group Amnesty International accused security forces of murder, torture and sexual assault. Among the abuses cited were the murders of 57 opposition supporters in October 2000. Eight paramilitary gendarmes were tried and acquitted.
Amnesty says the problem has grown since the civil war began. The conflict was declared over in July but rebels still hold the northern half of the country.
All sides in the conflict have been accused of atrocities, including rape and extrajudicial executions. And there are the more mundane daily abuses of power.
Paramilitary police armed with AK-47 rifles set up roadblocks across Abidjan as night falls, stopping cars with a wave of their torches or a flick of their weapons.
Passengers are ordered out, papers scrutinised and more often than not, money changes hands. The price is high for those who fail to obey. At least two taxi drivers have been shot dead in recent months at roadblocks.
"The roadblocks bother us. It's always 'give the money, give the money,'" said Lamine, a Senegalese taxi driver, who has lived in Ivory Coast for three years but is planning to leave.
"We are scared," he said, adding that Helene's death had made it worse. "Why would they shoot a white man like that?"
REFORM MUST COME FROM TOP
The roadblocks are not the only shake-down. Police often round up immigrants from neighbouring African countries, lock them in jail and wait until their relatives turn up to pay for their release. It can cost up to 10,000 CFA ($17.80) per person.
President Laurent Gbagbo, who condemned the murder of Helene and ordered an immediate investigation, recognises the problem.
"The problem of the security forces is not just a problem for foreign journalists...The people are also suffering," he said last week.
The growing sense of impunity is not confined to the police. Pro-Gbagbo youth groups are increasingly violent when they take to the streets, often smashing French businesses or roughing up passers-by.
The war has inflamed anti-French sentiment on both sides -- Gbagbo's supporters accuse the former colonial master of favouring the rebels, while they say 4,000 French soldiers posted here to monitor a truce are propping up Gbagbo.
In rebel territory, the no-consequences law of the gun is also getting stronger. In September, a bank robbery in the central town of Bouake turned sour as rebels and looters fought over the spoils. At least 23 people were killed.
In August, drunken rebels gunned down two French soldiers.
In the south, Helene's murder brought promises of reform.
Newly appointed Minister of Security Martin Bleou said police morale needed to be lifted and the force made more professional. He said police would be given psychological tests to judge whether they should carry arms.
The national police director was sacked.
The activist doubted such measures would be effective if indeed implemented. He said any change must come from the top.
"I think once you have someone in charge who says 'I don't want this,' you will see a change."