Malian army, Jihadi groups committed massacres — UN report

Mali’s army and jihadist groups have carried out massacres and hundreds of human rights violations, the United Nations Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) said in a report that details previously undocumented abuses against civilians.

The MINUSMA report reportedly lists 375 rights violations in the country between July and September, attributing 163 to jihadist groups and 162 to the Malian army, out of which 33 were carried out by militias, and 17 by armed groups that signed a 2015 peace agreement in northern Mali. The report details for the first time several abuses that had been impossible to report on previously because of challenges on the ground.

According to the report, for example 14 dead bodies were found in Gassel village in the Douentza region on 12 September “with their hands tied behind their backs,” few hours after the army and “foreign military personnel” had arrested them.

Bamako denies having carried out a military operation in Gassel, the UN said adding that Bamako had launched an investigation. Mali’s junta, which seized power in 2020, often claims it carries out probes, but the results are very rarely made public. Bamako said it was “not aware of the facts reported,” adding that an investigation was under way. The report follows others published by the UN and independent experts it has commissioned to document abuses by the Malian army with foreign support.