Set up in June 2001, the group attracted controversy and international condemnation due to its alleged involvement in extra-judicial killings and for organising demonstrations which often turned violent.
Blé Goudé founded COJEP in June 2001, at the end of his term as the head of another youth movement in Ivory Coast, after it had suffered an ideological split and become deeply politicised, with one section allying itself to a military junta within the country.
This new organisation incorporated: In January 2003, they prevented Dominique de Villepin, France's Minister of Foreign Affairs, from leaving the presidential palace for three-quarters of an hour.
The Young Patriots seized control of the offices of Ivory Coast's state-owned television channel, RTI, and broadcast repeated messages to attack the UN base in Daloa, as well as French targets.
Up until the start of the civil war, millions of refugees had entered Ivory Coast from neighbouring countries such as Mali, Burkina Faso, Liberia and Sierra Leone to escape hunger and conflict.
This produced resentment in the native population, as immigrants provided cheap labour and were perceived to be taking their jobs, especially in poorer areas of Abidjan, where support for the Young Patriots is strongest.