Malian military justice announced Wednesday, April 6 the opening of investigations into the recent events of Moura (center), where testimonies report the mass execution of civilians by Malian soldiers and foreign fighters.
Following the “Allegations of alleged abuses committed against civilians, investigations have been opened by the National Gendarmerie on instructions from the Ministry of Defense and Veterans Affairs to carry out in-depth investigations in order to shed light on these allegations”wrote in a press release the prosecutor at the military court of Mopti, a large city near Moura.
The prosecutor will go ” very soon “ on site with investigators and a medical examiner, the statement added. The authorities dominated by the military who came to power by force in 2020 were under pressure from all sides to open an independent investigation into the events that took place between March 27 and 31 in Moura, in a region which is one of the main centers Sahelian violence.
Diametrically opposed versions
The Malian army and witnesses interviewed by the press or the NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW) offer diametrically opposed versions. The army says it has “neutralized” 203 jihadists during a major operation. The witnesses quoted report a mass of summary executions of civilians, rapes and acts of looting committed by Malian soldiers and foreign fighters presumed to be Russians.
HRW says 300 civilians, including some suspected jihadists, were executed, and talks about the “worst episode of atrocities” committed since the unleashing of violence in Mali in 2012. On Wednesday, the UN independent expert on human rights in Mali, Alioune Tine, mingled his voice with those of France, the United States, the European Union or the Malian Human Rights Commission to request an investigation.
UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric told reporters in New York that the United Nations had opened an investigation and that experts from the UN Mission in Mali (Minusma) were seeking to visit the site. ” as quickly as possible “. Such a trip is subject to the goodwill of the Malian authorities. The press release from the Mopti military court says nothing about the possibility that its investigations involve non-Malian investigators.
Impunity denounced
In 2021, investigators from the Minusma Human Rights Division visited the site of a strike by the French anti-jihadist force Barkhane in Bounti (center) on January 3. Their report concluded the following March with the death of 19 civilians gathered to celebrate a wedding, and not just jihadists as Paris has always maintained.
The Malian army, like others in the Sahel, is regularly accused of abuses. The army ensures to investigate whenever necessary. But rights defenders constantly denounce the fact that such acts go unpunished. UN expert Alioune Tine in a statement urged the Malian authorities to “grant unhindered access to the Human Rights Division so that it can carry out a thorough investigation”.
“Given the serious allegations of mass crimes, dozens of civilians having been killed during these operations, I call on the Malian authorities to carry out a thorough, independent, impartial and effective investigation as soon as possible”, said Mr. Tine. The conclusions of these investigations should be made public, he added.
The events of Moura are set against the backdrop of the ongoing reconfiguration since the junta turned away from France and its European allies, and turned towards Russia to regain ground lost to the jihadists since 2012.