Mali: human rights defender Aminata Dicko, target of a violent smear campaign
Malian Aminata Dicko, vice-president of the Kisal human rights association, addresses the UN Security Council on January 27, 2023. UN Photo/Loey Felipe - Loey Felipe
Text by: David Baché
7 mins
Since she denounced the abuses of the Malian army and its Russian auxiliaries before the UN Security Council on January 27 and was accused by Minister Diop of serving "
hidden agendas
", the vice-president of the Kisal association is the subject of ultra-violent attacks on social networks.
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She stops talking.
She hides.
Faced with the outburst of violence she has been experiencing for a week, Aminata Dicko had to leave her home to "
take shelter in a safe place
", somewhere in Bamako.
While waiting for the storm to pass, the representative of Kisal in Mali, vice-president of this association for the defense of human rights, has chosen not to speak publicly.
"
It's very hard for her, for her relatives, for her children
", explains a manager from Kisal, on condition of anonymity.
"Hidden agendas" and calls for murder
On January 27, Aminata Dicko was invited by the United Nations to speak before the Security Council, as a member of civil society.
At the head of the Malian branch of Kisal, Observatory of human rights for pastoral communities in the Sahel, this daughter of a former deputy from the circle of Douentza, in central Mali, testifies to the violence of jihadist groups.
But also those of the Malian army and its Russian auxiliaries, in particular against the Fulani community.
The response of the Malian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Abdoulaye Diop, is immediate and scathing: questioning his "
credibility
" and his "
representativeness
", he denounces an "
instrumentalization of civil society
" in the service of
".
Since then, Aminata Dicko and the Kisal association have been the target of hate messages massively dumped on social networks: accusations of treachery to the homeland, of connivance with the jihadists or with hated France, but also calls for murder, directed against her. even against the entire Fulani community.
These messages come from unknown individuals or accounts linked to the conspiratorial sphere or to networks presenting themselves as "
neo-pan-Africanists
", "
patriots
".
Their attacks mainly target Aminata Dicko, but also Dougoukolo Ba Konaré, son of former President of the Republic Alpha Oumar Konaré and co-founder of the association.
Binta Sidibé-Gascon, another vice-president of Kisal who speaks regularly in the media, is not spared either and has been subjected to a vast campaign of denigration for several weeks.
Complaint for defamation and high treason
A complaint was also filed in Bamako against Aminata Dicko by the Collective for the Defense of the Military (CDM).
Appeared after the start of the transition period in the Malian public sphere, this collective is reputed to be close to the military perpetrators of the August 2020 coup. Its virulent press releases have the same political targets (France, ECOWAS, Minusma ...) that the transitional authorities, and some of its "
requirements
were quickly answered, such as the suspension of RFI and France 24 in the country (since last March, after the broadcast on RFI of testimonies recounting abuses by the Malian army and its Russian auxiliaries).
Today, it is therefore against Aminata Dicko that the CDM is concentrating its efforts, with a complaint filed last Monday, January 30, for “defamation, slander and high treason”.
In its letter to the prosecutor of the court of commune IV of Bamako, which RFI was able to obtain, the CDM accuses the human rights defender of "
usurping the honorary title of Malian civil society
" (sic), and "
condemns
" the “
irresponsible and unworthy false allegations of the good lady
” (sic).
A complaint that the first interested learned on social networks.
Police went Wednesday to the home of Aminata Dicko, who was not present.
They left no documents for her husband.
At this stage, Aminata Dicko takes advice from lawyers on the possible follow-up to be given.
Low profile
Since 2015, the Kisal association has carried out monitoring and alert work on violations of the rights of herding communities, the vast majority of whom are Fulani, in Sahelian countries, and carries out advocacy work with national and international institutions.
Because of her role as a whistleblower, Kisal's relations with the Malian government have not always been easy, "
but until then they were all the same healthy,
explains a Kisal executive,
we were even received to the Prime Minister in 2019. Today, we no longer have any contact with the authorities
".
Since Minister Abdoulaye Diop's remarks at the UN forum, the Malian government has not commented on the case of Aminata Dicko.
No additional criticism, no call for restraint either.
Asked by RFI, the Malian Ministry of Foreign Affairs declined to comment.
“
What is happening to us is very violent
”, poses a manager from Kisal.
“
We are used to being criticized, but here we were surprised by the speed and the viral nature of all these messages.
This representative of Kisal makes a point of specifying that "
contrary to what one can read, we are financed neither by the Minusma nor by anyone: our activities are reduced - animation of our web page, organization of conferences, some trips - and we conduct them out of our own funds.
»
Currently, Kisal continues its work of information gathering and advocacy, but in a more discreet way.
Publications on the association's Facebook page have been suspended.
While waiting to see how the situation will evolve, the members of the association have decided not to respond to the insulting messages and to keep a "
low profile
" so as not to make matters worse.
But Kisal has also received many messages of support, from anonymous people, professionals recognizing the quality of the organization's work, personalities from civil society defending freedom of expression and of course many nationals of Fulani community.
Kisal defenders stress the vital nature of their advocacy work for victims, and remind those who accuse Aminata Dicko of being in the pay of the West that she was among the first to reveal the strikes of the French force Barkhane having touched a wedding ceremony in Bounti, in central Mali, just two years ago.
Today, the members of Kisal say they are torn between sadness, spite,
Taboo subjects
Allegations of abuses against the Malian army and its Russian auxiliaries, and the targeting of the Fulani community during so-called “anti-terrorist” military operations, have become taboo subjects in Mali.
“
There is a denial on this ethnic question,
points out the framework of Kisal.
The authorities refuse to talk about it, those who do are accused of having a hidden agenda or of wanting to divide Mali, but it is this denial that reinforces the antagonisms!
“And to continue:”
the state is not our enemy and we have never hidden.
On the contrary, our work aims to alert the authorities and allow them to react.
»
Since the beginning of the transition period, political opponents, journalists' organizations, human rights organizations or, more recently, a panel of independent experts mandated by the United Nations, have constantly warned about the restriction of civic space in Mali, on the intimidation and violence suffered by those who dare to raise these subjects.
Sometimes by sympathizers of the transitional authorities, indulging in insults, threats, and even physical attacks.
Sometimes by the authorities themselves: temporary or permanent suspension of the media, arrest – legal or extra-judicial – of political activists, legal proceedings brought against voices critical of the regime.
In the speech he delivered to the United Nations Security Council on January 27, before his "catch-up" with Aminata Dicko, the head of Malian diplomacy Abdoulaye Diop affirmed that "
while firmly opposing any instrumentalization or politicization of the issue
", the Malian government would continue to "
work tirelessly for the protection and promotion of human rights, (...) in accordance with the ancestral humanist values
" of Mali.
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