Mali authorities should act to uphold fundamental freedoms and the rule of law during the new two-year timetable for transitioning to civilian rule, Human Rights Watch said today. They should promote respect for freedom of expression and the media, ensure due process rights for criminal suspects, and end torture and enforced disappearances.
On July 3, 2022, the regional Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) lifted economic and financial sanctions, imposed in January, after Mali’s transitional government agreed to a new timeline for elections and other reforms by March 2024. The ECOWAS mechanism set up to monitor adherence to the timetable should include benchmarks on improved respect and protection of human rights, Human Rights Watch said.
“Mali’s leaders have taken steps toward civilian rule, but achieving a democratic society means ensuring respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms,” said Jehanne Henry, senior Africa adviser at Human Rights Watch. “The authorities should foster open dialogue that allows journalists, commentators, and human rights activists to speak out without fear of reprisals.”
Human Rights Watch researchers visited Bamako, Mali’s capital, between June 29 and July 8, and met with 3 current and former detainees, detainees’ family members, 3 lawyers, and 25 media professionals, civil society activists, political party members, and analysts. Authorities responded to Human Rights Watch’s request for comments by letter on August 6, reaffirming their commitment to protecting human rights as enshrined in international and Malian law, but failed to address specific findings of violations described below.
Mali’s transitional government took over following a military-led coup in August 2020 against then-President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita. In May 2021, military leaders consolidated power through a second coup, installing Col. Assimi Goïta as interim president. Since then, the media, civil society groups, lawyers, and analysts have reported increasing repression by the transitional government.
Violence has surged across Mali during this period. Attacks by armed Islamist groups and government-led counterterrorism operations have resulted in the killing of several hundred civilians since the beginning of 2022. This coincides with the departure of French and other Western forces supporting the government’s military efforts, and the reported arrival of Russian forces from the Wagner Group – a military security contractor with apparent links to Russia’s government.
The transitional government has increasingly restricted the United Nations peacekeeping mission, the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali. It has barred the peacekeepers from areas where government forces were implicated in abusive operations, such as the town of Moura, where Human Rights Watch documented serious abuses in March by the Malian army and foreign soldiers identified as Russian fighters. In June, Malian authorities rejected the UN Security Council’s call to allow the mission access to all areas.