UN official calls on Mali to urgently tackle security, human rights crisis

KIGALI, Rwanda

The deteriorating security situation in Mali needs to be urgently addressed with a holistic approach that addresses impunity and puts human rights at the center of the security response, a senior UN official said Tuesday.

In a statement at the end of a six-day visit to the country, UN Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights Ilze Brands Kehris said that military operations alone do not suffice to respond to the crisis and called for a holistic response from Mali with the support of the international community.

Brands Kehris engaged with a wide range of interlocutors on the human rights situation and priorities in Mali and the broader Sahel region.

She focused in particular on the protection of civilians and the fight against impunity, including in southern regions of Mali, as well as on support to the G5-Sahel Joint Force to implement its Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law Compliance Framework.

She expressed grave concern about the marked expansion of violence and voiced her admiration for innovative local-level approaches to prevent violence.

“Community-led peace and reconciliation initiatives demonstrate that it is possible to defuse tensions and reduce violence by dialogue and through dispute-resolution mechanisms to address factors that contribute to inter-communal violence such as competition over scarce resources,” she said.

Brands Kehris visited Mopti in central Mali, the region where most human rights violations and abuses have been documented. It also hosts more than half the internally displaced persons (IDP) population.

"Being forced to choose between giving up one's fundamental rights or being killed is unacceptable," she said. "Working towards the gradual re-establishment of the state's presence and authority in central Mali and throughout the country is absolutely critical.”

In Mali, the human rights situation has continued to deteriorate, according to the UN. The MINUSMA Human Rights and Protection Division (MINUSMA HRPD) has recorded a serious increase in human rights violations and abuses, documenting 2,032 incidents in 2020, which represented a 48.86% increase from 2019.

Brands Kehris also met with Malian Prime Minister Choguel Kokalla Maiga and several government officials, including the minister of justice and human rights and minister of defense and veterans affairs.

Her visit took place in the context of the ongoing political transition in Mali.

Data shared with the official showed the disproportionate effect of violence on the region, where 71% of conflict-related deaths were recorded in 2020.

The West African country witnessed a coup in August 2020 which toppled President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita.

Colonel Assimi Goita, the transitional leader who overthrew the leaders of the interim government in May -- in a second coup had pledged to respect a February 2022 deadline for civilian elections set by the previous interim government.

But regional bloc the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has deplored the “lack of progress in the preparation of elections or the absence of a detailed timetable of activities for Feb. 27, 2022 as provided for in the transition charter.”