"What is Wagner's presence in Mali? Exactions and the limitation of public freedoms".

Interviewed on France 24 on Wednesday March 30, French Foreign Minister Jean Yves le Drian once again castigated the presence of Russian militiamen from the Wagner group in Mali with the national forces, and whose ruling junta is, according to him, the "hostage".  

In recent months, testimonies relayed by several media, including RFI and France 24, as well as the humanitarian organization Human Rights Watch, accuse the Malian army, as well as white fighters, suspected of belonging to the Russian group Wagner, of abuses committed against civilians in several regions of Mali.

This would currently be the case in Moura, a village in the center of the country, in the Mopti region, besieged by the army and Russian fighters.

Numerous accusations, deemed "worrying" by the UN but rejected by the junta, which denies any presence of Russian militiamen and denounces an attempt to destabilize the Malian armed forces (FAMa).   

Haro on the French media  

On March 16, in a statement, the Malian junta announced the suspension of France 24 and RFI, accused of "false allegations" of abuses committed by the Malian army.

A decision which follows the publication by RFI of a two-part report containing testimonies of civilians recounting looting and summary executions committed by Malian soldiers, sometimes accompanied by white, non-French-speaking people, suspected of belonging to Wagner.     

Denouncing "the criminal will of journalists" aimed at "sowing hatred", the junta opposes a categorical rejection to "these allegations against the valiant FAMa".

The press release specifies that Malian media are now prohibited from publishing or sharing content from the two French media, which belong to the same group.   

A month earlier another French media had been targeted by the junta, Jeune Afrique, whose special envoy Benjamin Roger had been arrested on February 6, then expelled less than 24 hours after his arrival on Malian soil.

He too was working on the role of Wagner's militiamen with the Malian forces.

His investigation, published on February 18, echoes their "brutal" and "expeditious" methods in the field which "tend to disinhibit" the FAMa.     

However, since the first rumors of the signing of a contract between the Malian junta and the Wagner militia, reported in September 2021 by Reuters, Bamako fiercely denies any presence of Russian mercenaries on its soil.

Only Russian instructors are present in Mali and they do not participate in the fighting, insists Bamako.  

A "plot" to "discredit the army"  

Interviewed on RFI on February 17, Fousseynou Ouattara, the vice-president of the Defense commission of the National Transitional Council (CNT), castigates a "pure and simple manipulation" orchestrated from scratch to discredit the Malian army.

"Do you have the names of the Malians who bear witness to this? You know in certain villages, the situation is such that if you give money to a Malian, a poor person who is suffering, he will tell you everything you want" he asserts at the microphone of David Baché. 

💬 🇲🇱 Accusations of abuse: "a plot to hide the successes of the Malian army" says Fousseynou Ouattara, vice-president of the Defense Commission of the National Transitional Council (CNT) of #Mali.


🎙 D. Baché #RFImatin 👇 pic.twitter.com/NzEGYGvJaQ

— RFI (@RFI) March 17, 2022

For its part, the humanitarian organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) published a report on February 15 documenting the death of 107 civilians in central and southwestern Mali since December 2021, "of which at least 71 would involve members of the government forces".

Again, the involvement of "white soldiers" speaking an unknown language is reported. 

In a response dated March 14, the Malian Ministry of Defense returns point by point to the abuses documented by the NGO.

"The fight against impunity remains today a priority for the military command" he declared before launching a regular attack on the Human Rights report: "These allegations are very often tendentious, not cross-checked , reported according to non-contradictory testimonies and not supported by any tangible proof". 

"The cancer of impunity" 

After the publication of the HRW report, several investigations were opened, according to the Malian authorities, to shed light on the accusations of extrajudicial executions, enforced or involuntary disappearances and reprisals against civilians.

An initiative hailed by Alioune Tine, independent expert on the situation of human rights in Mali with the United Nations, who nevertheless warns the Malian government, in his latest report presented this week in Geneva.

"I would like to emphasize that the practice of refuting allegations of human rights violations en bloc even before having carried out investigations, risks casting doubt on the international commitment of the Malian authorities in terms of human rights. rights and their political will to fight against the cancer of impunity" he underlines. 

According to the United Nations expert, this approach "risks making potential human rights violators believe that the Malian state is protecting them" and could be used by armed groups to present themselves to the people as a "credible alternative solution". to state failure. 

Since the publications of RFI and HRW, other accusations have surfaced.

In Ansongo, in northeastern Mali, the army is accused of having executed, on March 26, a group of civilians fleeing attacks by the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (EIGS). 

For its part, the Malian junta prefers to focus on the rise of the FAMa.

"Today we can proudly say that our National Army is capable of operating independently without asking anyone for help," Defense Minister Colonel Sadio Camara insisted on March 30. from Modibo Keïta airport near Bamako, proudly displaying new military equipment, including combat helicopters and the latest generation radars, from Russia. 

A first batch of military equipment was received on March 30, 2022 by the Minister of Defense and Veterans Affairs, Colonel Sadio Camara at President Modibo Keita Bamako-Sénou International Airport.


Read the whole article at this link: https://t.co/NoL3UGwhek pic.twitter.com/UAys3oFUao

— Malian Armed Forces (@FAMa_DIRPA) March 30, 2022

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