Mali: Human Rights Watch denounces the “atrocities” of the army and Wagner against civilians
In Mali, “
the army and the Wagner group are committing atrocities against civilians
”. This is the finding and title of the report published on March 28, 2024 by Human Rights Watch (HRW). According to the human rights organization, since December, the Malian Armed Forces (Fama) and the Russian paramilitary group "
illegally killed and summarily executed several dozen civilians during counterterrorism operations
" in the center and in the north of the country.
[Illustrative image] Detail of the badge of a member of the Malian Army (Fama). AFP - AGNES COUDURIER
By: David Baché
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In total, seven cases of abuses have been documented. As in Konokassi, Ségou region, where, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW), “
a Malian drone bombed an open-air wedding ceremony
” on January 16. The next day, a new strike occurred in the cemetery, at the time of the burials. Total toll: 14 killed, including four children, but no member of Jnim, according to several witnesses cited by the report and who themselves deplore being forced to submit to the yoke of the jihadists on a daily basis.
HRW also details the case of 25 people, including four children, arrested in Welingara, near Nara, on January 26. All were found charred in a mass grave.
Also read: The Malian army and the Wagner group execute 25 people in Welingara
The day before, Malian soldiers and their Wagner auxiliaries had summarily executed seven villagers in Attara, Timbuktu region. Witnesses interviewed by HRW say the Russians outnumbered the Malians, executed unarmed men trying to escape, and then looted the market's shops, taking goods and money.
“
Deliberate cruelty
”
Dakka Sebe and Nienanpela in the Ségou region, Dioura and Gathi Loumou, in the Mopti region:
Human Rights Watch documents
other cases and concludes that "
the Malian army and Wagner group fighters demonstrated treatment of Malian civilians with deliberate cruelty, which should be investigated as war crimes
.”
Read alsoMali: nearly 30 people killed by the Malian army and the Wagner group in Gathi Loumou
The association specifies that it contacted the Malian ministries of Defense and Justice on all these cases, without obtaining a response.
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