Mali: the UN Security Council examines the renewal of the mandate of Minusma

Vehicle of Minusma blue helmets between Mopti and Djenné, in central Mali, April 28, 2019 (photo illustration).

© MICHELE CATTANI / AFP

Text by: David Baché

2 mins

The mandate of Minusma, the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali, expires at the end of the month (June 30).

The question of its renewal will be debated and then submitted to the vote of the United Nations Security Council this Monday, June 13, 2022. Minusma has been present in the country since 2013, it currently has nearly 15,000 peacekeepers and police officers, but relations with Bamako have deteriorated in recent months.

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On the Malian side as on the UN side, the renewal of the mandate of Minusma is desired.

All the official declarations go in this direction.

In reality, it's a bit more complicated.

The executives of the Minusma are concerned

.

A vast no-fly zone has been imposed by Bamako since mid-January in the center of the country.

In general, the requirements for obtaining flight authorizations are increasingly penalizing, several West African contingents of blue helmets found themselves stranded in Mali, at the end of their mission, when they had to return at their home.  

Above all, UN teams are denied access to many parts of the territory.

This is the case of several sites where the Malian army is suspected of abuses against civilians.

And the most emblematic case is the village of Moura.

Increase in violence against civilians

The Fama claim to have killed 203 jihadists there at the end of March.

But many testimonies report

by the Malian army and its Russian auxiliaries.

The Minusma therefore opened an investigation, but was never authorized to go there.

It is that the work of the human rights division of the Minusma is not perceived favorably by the transitional authorities.

This division investigates violence committed against civilians by jihadist groups, armed self-defense groups, signatory groups to the peace agreement, international forces and the Malian army.

However, a report published at the end of May aroused the anger of Bamako.

He

 : 249 people killed between January and last March, according to this report, by the Fama and, in some cases, their new Russian allies.

Ten times more than in the previous quarter.

Bamako categorically denied any allegation of abuse, and denounced a desire to tarnish the image of the national forces.

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