The number of civilian deaths and rights violations attributable to the Malian army supported by foreign soldiers has increasedexponential risein the first quarter of 2022, the UN mission (Minusma) in the country said on Monday May 30.
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If armed groups affiliated with al-Qaeda or the Islamic State (IS) organization remained the main perpetrators of violence against civilians, the Minusma counted 320 violations attributable to the Defense and Security Forces (FDSM) « supported by foreign military elementsduring the first three months of the year, including the death of 248 civilians, indicates the Minusma in a quarterly note, without specifying the origin of these foreign elements.
The junta in power in Bamako since August 2020 has turned away from France and its European partners in recent months, and turned towards Russia. The Europeans denounce the recourse made according to them by the colonels to the services of the Russian private security company Wagner, with controversial actions. The junta denies this and speaks of enhanced state-to-state cooperation with Russia. The use of Wagner is one of the reasons given by France and its allies to announce in February their military withdrawal from Mali. They had also arguedmultiple obstructionsfrom the Malian authorities to their action.
Investigation « very advanced»
The Minusma had identified 31 violations attributable to Malian forces in the previous quarter. The number of people killed during this period by all parties to the conflict (Islamist or other armed groups, militias and vigilante groups, defense forces) more than quadrupled from one quarter to the next, from 128 at 543, says the Minusma.
Guillaume Ngefa, director of the human rights division, clarified during a videoconference that the counts « do not include Moura events« . This central locality was the scene from March 27 to 31 of what Human Rights Watch describes as the massacre of 300 civilians by Malian soldiers associated with foreign fighters, possibly Russians. The Malian army denies and claims the elimination of more than 200 jihadists.
Guillaume Ngefa invoked the fact that the investigation conducted by the Minusma was not yet complete, although « very advanced« . The Malian authorities have still not allowed UN experts to go there. Guillaume Ngefa, however, specified that the trip to the field was only one of the means of investigation.
« Murder» of 52 Mauritanians
The Minusma document notes that the Malian authorities have announced their own investigation into the events in Moura. They informed the Minusma that the request for access to the site of the latter will be « considered“once their own investigation”finalizedsays the note. The Minusma assures that its conclusions will be the subject of a public report.
« In addition to extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions and other murders, there have also been documented 45 cases of enforced or involuntary disappearance, 26 cases of attacks on physical integrity and several cases of arbitrary arrests as well as torture and cruel treatment, inhuman or degradingsays the document, referring to violations specifically attributable to Malian security forces.
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The Minusma reports the death of at least 21 civilians summarily executed according to it by the Malian Armed Forces (FAMa) and 18 others missing on December 31 in the Nara region and 18 others missing. She also mentions the discovery of 35 charred bodies, including those of people previously arrested by the FAMa, on March 2 in the Niono region. The Minusma reports the denial of the Malian authorities.
The Minusma writes that « the majority of the victims of these violations were members of the Fulani community« . This is readily considered by some Malians as a source of recruits for the jihadists. The junta regularly claims to push the jihadists to « stampede« .
Degradation in the center
Daniela Kroslak, Deputy Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General, however, said the UN remains « very concernedin the face of the general security situation in Mali, and the deterioration observed according to her in the center of Mali and in the area known as the three borders with Burkina Faso and Niger.
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The period was also marked by a series of incidents « on the border with Mauritania,including the murder of approximately 52 Mauritanian civilians, says an annexed press release from Minusma. The Minusma also points to a « continued shrinking of civic space and democratic debate and restriction in the exercise of public freedoms« . The first three months of the year, including the death of 248 civilians, indicates the Minusma in a quarterly note, without specifying the origin of these foreign elements.
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