- UN condemns Mali executions
- Central Mali violence escalates
- Investigations remain fruitless
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights expressed alarm on Thursday over the alleged arbitrary executions of 25 individuals last week by Mali’s army and “foreign military personnel” in a region plagued by armed group violence.
Volker Turk was disturbed by the weekend attacks in central Mali, a violent region, that killed about thirty people.
Turk issued the following statement: “I am deeply troubled by substantiated claims that on 26 January, Malian armed forces, accompanied by foreign military personnel, executed without trial at least twenty-five individuals in the village of Welingara, located in the central Nara region.”
“I am further troubled by reports that unidentified gunmen attacked two additional villages in the Bandiagara region over the past weekend, Ogota and Oimbe, killing approximately thirty civilians,” he added.
Information gathering and verification in Mali are complicated by the nation’s expansive topography, deteriorating communications infrastructure, and security issues.
The outbreak of rebel violence in northern Mali in 2012 escalated to the country’s centre in 2015. This was with the establishment of Katiba Macina, an al-Qaeda-affiliated organisation commanded by the Fulani extremist preacher Amadou Kouffa.
Over 1,800 West African attacks in the first half of 2023 killed nearly 4,600 people and devastated humanitarian efforts. A senior regional official of ECOWAS remarked that this merely exemplified “a fraction of the catastrophic consequences of insecurity.”
Presently, Mali is governed by a military regime that assumed authority in 2020. It cut ties with former colonial power France and prevented MINUSMA’s 2023 evacuation.
Mali’s Shift Toward Russian Alliance
The government has instead decided to adopt a military and political stance towards Russia. It declared its withdrawal from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in January of this year. This move aligned it with Burkina Faso and Niger, both governed by their respective militaries. Since the takeovers, the regional bloc has played a pivotal role in denouncing and imposing sanctions on the three entities.
After the three countries’ coups, France announced the withdrawal of its military forces from the Sahel. It had previously maintained a significant presence there.
Numerous analysts have speculated that Mali has contracted Russian mercenaries, notwithstanding the country’s consistent denials.
“Experience the power of Webull in the UK – grab your free shares.”
Consistently, the Malian army and its associates have been accused by the United Nations and local sources of atrocities against civilians, allegations that Mali has categorically refuted.
Human Rights Watch and UN rights investigators have concluded that foreign forces, allegedly Wagner, in conjunction with Malian military, were responsible for the March 2022 massacre of at least 500 individuals in the central Malian town of Moura.
The UN rights chief stated on Thursday, “It is critical that all allegations of arbitrary deprivations of life, including summary executions, be thoroughly and impartially investigated, and those found guilty be brought to justice in trials that adhere to international standards.”
As of this moment, all inquiries initiated in Mali regarding military abuses have been fruitless.
