“Mali is threatened by collapse”, warns UN expert Alioune Tine

Visiting the United Nations office in Geneva on the occasion of the presentation of his report to the Human Rights Council, the Independent Expert on Mali, Alioune Tine, shared his analysis of the situation in the country at the microphone from UN Info Geneva.

“The deterioration of the overall security situation in Mali has exceeded the critical threshold”

Alioune Tine’s observation is clear: for 4 months, the West African country has suffered a serious upsurge in violence, perpetrated by both jihadist soldiers affiliated with Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State ( EI), as well as community groups and Malian forces. A conclusion that is all the more worrying since the Senegalese had nevertheless observed a tangible improvement in the human rights situation in the last quarter of 2021, during his fifth official visit to Mali.

In fact, civilian populations are the first to be affected, with numerous enforced disappearances and allegations of torture. A report by the UN mission in Mali (MINUSMA) had already confirmed the killing of 584 civilians in 2021, a figure that could increase in 2022.

Attack against civilians in Moura

The independent expert on the situation of human rights in Mali has expressed serious concern over unconfirmed reports that members of the Malian armed forces and Russian private military personnel executed dozens of civilians during a military operation from March 27 to 31, in Moura, in the Mopti region.

“I call on the Malian authorities to conduct a thorough, independent, impartial and effective investigation into all alleged violations as soon as possible,” he said in a statement.

On April 4, MINUSMA had already indicated that it had launched a security operation in several villages of Talataye, following reports of attacks against the civilian population by suspected terrorists. “This situation is extremely worrying,” says the expert, who warns of a continuing cycle of violence and revenge.

The impunity of armed groups

Alioune Tine explains that the armed groups constitute “a cancer for Mali and a threat for the coastal countries”, in particular Benin, Togo, Ghana and Senegal. Indeed, these men multiply the rapes, resort to child soldiers and engage in a series of exactions against the civil populations (summary executions, tortures, intimidations, imposition of illegal taxes).

The Malian defense and security forces are also accused of serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law.

“The big problem today is impunity,” says the independent expert, who underlined, on March 29 before the Human Rights Council, the lack of investigations, the slowness of judicial proceedings and the absence of investigating judges. A perspective shared by the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, who had already estimated in June 2021 that this system constituted “a serious risk for the protection of civilians”.

The consequences of the withdrawal of Operation Barkhane

Without an effective military strategy, violence risks becoming widespread throughout the sub-region, jeopardizing the stability of West Africa. As such, the Senegalese expert, questioned on the withdrawal of the Barkhane military operation, believes that the loss of these 6,000 men and these material resources “will accentuate the vulnerability of Mali”.

These were indeed significant resources allocated to the fight against terrorism: in 2020, the French government had invested 880 million euros in this operation. In response, Alioune Tine calls for renewed dialogue between France and Mali, “who are old friends”.

How to rebuild national and regional stability?

The big problem today is impunity

Faced with this observation, the independent expert “calls on the international community not to abandon Mali at a time when it is most needed”. Without stable political power and affected by a major security crisis, the country is indeed threatened with collapse.

Alioune Tine also warns about the presumed presence of the paramilitary group Wagner on the national territory: “we must be careful that there are no adverse effects of the global geopolitical shift in Mali”, he notes.

For the expert, it is essential that Africans seize this issue and that “they build their own geopolitics, in order to ensure their security and defend their interests”. It thus encourages greater involvement of civil society, while collaborating with ECOWAS and the African Union, to rethink the current strategy.

Moreover, he stresses the importance of democratic processes in Mali. “We must go to the elections”, he declares, on condition “of preparing them well, so as not to produce another crisis”. Alioune Tine thus echoes the previous legislative elections, which had been disputed and on which the coup d’etat of May 24, 2021 was based, leading in particular to the capture of President Bah N’Daw.

However, Mr. Tine chooses to remain “optimistic for the future of Mali”. According to him, the current debate within society as well as the many solutions that are emerging could allow a resolution of the situation.

Produced by Aurore Bourdin of UN Geneva

Note :

The mandate of the Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in Mali was established in 2013 by resolution 22/18 of the Human Rights Council. It has been extended to enable it to assess the human rights situation in Mali and to assist the Malian government in its efforts to strengthen the rule of law. As part of his mandate, the expert must work in close collaboration with all United Nations entities, the African Union, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the Group of Five for the Sahel, neighboring states, as well as Malian civil society. As a holder of a mandate with the Human Rights Council, Alioune Tine is not a United Nations staff and does not receive a salary.