Human Rights Watch welcomes the report of the Independent Expert on the situation in Mali, Mr. Suliman Baldo, and supports the renewal of his mandate. We urge the Malian government to implement his well-founded recommendations without delay.
We wholeheartedly agree with the Independent Expert’s concerns with the human rights implications of the deteriorating situation in the north. He rightly stressed the importance of strengthening Mali’s judicial system, ensuring fair prosecutions of serious crimes committed by all sides during the recent armed conflict, and the benefits of a credible and representative truth-telling commission.
Human Rights Watch is concerned by the government’s lack of progress in addressing deep-rooted impunity and the weaknesses of the justice system that underscored Mali’s near-collapse in 2012. While the national judiciary has made progress in investigating the 2012 enforced disappearances and torture of at least 21 elite “Red Berets” by men loyal to coup leader Amadou Sanogo, we are concerned that insufficient progress has been made investigating and holding to account those implicated in serious abuses committed by all sides during the 2012-2013 armed conflict.
Human Rights Watch has spoken with numerous families of victims seeking to ensure justice for the loss or injury of their loved ones. To date over 100 families have filed complaints and missing persons’ reports with the police and gendarmerie and written letters to prosecutors detailing crimes. Unfortunately, almost none of their cases have been investigated, and none of those allegedly responsible brought to justice.
The government’s provisional release in 2014 of over 40 men, including commanders, credibly implicated in wartime abuses, raises concerns that their alleged crimes won’t be seriously investigated, which would amount to a de facto amnesty for these crimes.
To investigate serious crimes in the north, we urge the government to establish a Bamako-based special investigation cell consisting of prosecutors, investigative judges and others. Creating such a unit would concentrate expertise in crimes not often handled by Malian courts; help address the absence of defense lawyers in the north; reduce the risk of attack on judicial personnel, witnesses, evidence, and judicial infrastructure; and facilitate creation of an effective system of witness protection.
With respect to the peace process, we believe any final agreement should include provisions to support the prosecution of war crimes, strengthen the truth-telling commission, and ensure the vetting of security force personnel. Any deal that turns a blind eye to the need for justice will not only disregard the rights of victims and their families, but also encourage further abuses and undermine hopes for a durable peace.
Ensuring meaningful progress on strengthening the judiciary and addressing long-standing impunity are all the more urgent given the deteriorating security situation, including increasing attacks, lawlessness, and banditry by armed groups in the north, and more recently in the south.
