2024-01-29 17:23:05
Golden exile, advisory position in a key ministry or in Mali’s representations abroad… With the exception of the ex-boss of the intelligence services placed in pre-trial detention for a year and a half, the “wanted” suspects linked to the disappearance of Malian journalist Birama Touré in 2016 are all at large. Eight years after the events, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) reveals that the ruling junta has not responded to numerous requests to hand over several accused soldiers to the Malian justice system.
In Mali, you can be prosecuted for several years for acts “kidnapping, sequestration, torture, and fatal beatings” of a journalist and occupy official functions within the State, its representations abroad or its security services. Eight years after the disappearance, on January 29, 2016, of Birama Tourea journalist who worked for Le Sphinxa renowned investigative media in Bamako, most of the people charged have never been made available to justice despite at least four requests made by successive judges in this case, according to documents from the judicial information obtained by RSF.
To date, only the former head of the Malian internal intelligence service, General Moussa Diawara, has been arrested. RSF revealed, in 2021, the involvement in this affair of the General Directorate of State Security (DGSE) of Mali. Six witnesses interviewed by our organization, some of whom saw Birama Touré in the intelligence service’s jails, affirmed that he had stayed there for several months following his kidnapping. According to our information, he died there in circumstances which remain to be clarified. However, those suspected of being involved are still at large, like Karim Keïta.
Officially, the son of former Malian president Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta remains wanted by the Malian justice system, but the international arrest warrant issued against him has never been executed. A key figure in the Malian political landscape at the time, he had control over the country’s security services and chaired the defense committee of the National Assembly. According to a witness’ account, he was seen the day the journalist’s body was taken out of the secret prison in which he was being held. Another fellow prisoner of the reporter also told RSF that Birama Touré had told him that he was in it “ on order » by Karim Keïta. At the time of his disappearance, the journalist was investigating a vast affair of arms contracts which would have given rise to significant embezzlement of funds for the benefit of Karim Keïta and some of his relatives. The latter disputes these accusations and denies having met the journalist. Exiled in Ivory Coast, the former “enfant terrible of the Republic” as he was nicknamed during his father’s presidency, withdrew from Malian political life. “He is discreet and plays tennis”according to one of his relatives interviewed by RSF.
“By protecting numerous officials from their security forces suspected of being involved in the disappearance of journalist Birama Touré, the Malian authorities are obstructing the manifestation of the truth. Most of these people hold official positions. Some have even been promoted or decorated in recent years, even though they are wanted for extremely serious crimes. It’s astonishing. Did the junta use the disappearance of this journalist to sideline the son of the former president and a powerful general? We ask the Malian government to accede to the demands of its own justice and to do everything possible to shed light on this matter,” declared Arnaud Froger, Head of RSF’s investigation office.
According to a letter dated March 28, 2023 consulted by RSF, the judge in charge of the case at the time asked the Minister of Defense, Colonel Sadio Camara, to make available six soldiers charged in this case and suspected of having played a role in the disappearance of Birama Touré. At least three similar requests had already been made previously. In vain…
Defendants released and decorated
Among these wanted people is Colonel Cheick Oumar N’Diaye, presented in the documents consulted by RSF as a former DGSE agent. He was actually one of the main people in charge, as director of operations. According to a witness, it was he who participated in the interrogation of the journalist in state security jails after his kidnapping. According to another, it was also he who “cleansed the blood” of Birama Touré in the cell in which the journalist died as a result of the abuse inflicted on him. He then allegedly used his own vehicle, a white pick-up, to transport the journalist’s body to an unknown destination. Due to lack of agreement from his superiors, this colonel was never heard. A decision tinged with a major conflict of interest. In a decree of December 7, 2022, Cheikh Oumar N’Diaye was appointed to the position of project manager at the Ministry of Defense…
By investigating his profile, RSF also found that he had been decorated and appointed to the rank of knight of the National Order of Mali in January 2018, like two other soldiers charged in the proceedings and requested by the courts Malian. Aboubacar Koné known as “Abacha” is one of them. He also worked in state security at the time of the incident and was seen by a witness on the day the journalist’s body was recovered. Nicknamed “the chief torturer” by former detainees interviewed by RSF, he was also seen with Birama Touré, the day before the journalist’s kidnapping, in the Sphinx editorial offices. According to the elements of the Malian investigation, he was directly involved in the acts of torture inflicted on Birama Touré. According to our information, he is still in service and has been transferred to a brigade in western Mali.
Finally, the documents obtained by RSF corroborate information already obtained from different sources according to which two other suspects occupy positions in Mali’s representations abroad. In November 2021, a judicial source told RSF that one of these suspects was “difficult to understand” due to ” important role ” that he played for Mali.
In full knowledge of the facts with which they are accused, and with the exception of Karim Keïta (on the run) and Moussa Diawara (in preventive detention), six suspects therefore still occupy official positions in the security forces or elsewhere in the Malian state apparatus. A situation of total impunity to the detriment of truth and justice. Asked by RSF, the Minister of Justice, Mahamadou Kassogué, did not answer our questions.
Mali ranks 113th out of 180 countries in the World Press Freedom Index established in 2023 by RSF.
Reporters Without Borders
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