G5 Sahel: the problem of atrocities against civilian populations

Malian soldiers, members of the G5 Sahel joint force, on patrol near the border with Burkina Faso. (illustration image) Daphne BENOIT / AFP

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During the G5 Sahel summit (Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Chad) and France in Nouakchott last Tuesday, the heads of state addressed the question of the atrocities suffered by the civilian population. Emmanuel Macron even declared that "the Fulani communities are nobody's enemy".

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The French president's remarks were welcomed by civil society organizations such as the Collective against Impunity and the Stigmatization of Communities in Burkina Faso. According to this association, it is a first step in the fight against terrorism and the protection of civilians who see their area of ​​security shrinking more and more. 

Daouda Diallo, spokesperson for the collective and representative of Kisal in Burkina Faso, an observatory for the human rights of nomadic pastors and minorities, congratulates President Macron "  for having raised this message of the so-called delicate question of the abuses we are witnessing more and more in the G5 Sahel zone  "but he invites the French head of state to go"  from act to word  ". 

“  For us, the strategy used so far is not the right one to guarantee the security of the citizens of Burkina Faso. The strategy must not only be military, there must also be initiatives for dialogue with all the major players, the large communities. We need a national program on community issues to get communities to talk to each other, to stand together in order to better succeed in this fight against terrorism.  "

In Mauritania too, voices are rising to call for more protection of the civilian population following the words of the French president. In a press conference held in the aftermath of the Nouakchott summit , the parliamentarian and leader of the abolitionist IRA movement, Biram Dah Abeid, asked Emmanuel Macron to put pressure on the heads of state of the Sahel, so that the abuses perpetrated in particular stop against the Fulani populations by the G5 armies. 

The Sahel is experiencing a global situation of state failure, absence and injustice, a global situation of denial of the rule of law, of humanity. The Fulani are targeted, persecuted in the sub-region by the armies of the Sahel.

Biram Dah Abeid

Salem Mejbour

Displaced people from central Mali

Among the civilian populations victims of the situation in the Sahel, those in central Mali are suffering an increasingly degraded situation. The center of the country is the scene of jihadist or criminal attacks, pushing many residents into exile. Our correspondent Coralie Pierret met displaced people in their camp in the Malian capital. 

In Bamako, the displaced from central Mali have rebuilt their village in miniature. The women wash the children in the basins while the men sit in a hut. Last year, Pathé Kelly lost loved ones, their house and their livestock in an attack by armed men. “  Those who stayed in the village are in an open-air prison. Because they can't move. There are threats even if the Fama and Minusma are there for security. They cannot rebuild their homes or work.  " 

Fear can also be seen on Ousmane Diallo's face. Originally from Bankass, he has difficulty returning to his hometown, due to the multiplication of threats. “  There are jihadists but there are also other militias that threaten people. Even with the Fama, they do not feel secure.  "

However, this situation is not on the menu of major international summits, insists in the middle of this cattle market, Hamadoune Dicko, the president of the young Tabital Pulaaku, a Fulani community association. "  Certainly, even if we manage to control the area of ​​the three borders and Lake Chad, all these groups will take refuge towards the center of Mali and create other nests from which they will conduct other operations. It is the center of Mali which is the nucleus today.  "

At the Center, according to the United Nations, several hundred civilians have been killed since the beginning of the year. 

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  • G5 Sahel
  • Sahel
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