The war in the Sahel is not limited to the operation Barkhane. In a report published Wednesday, Amnesty international documents a darker side of this conflict and the multiple actors. Victims of terrorist groups who operate in the region, and who draw from their resources in the resentment of the State or in the resentment of social and ethnic groups, local populations may also be the target of soldiers under pressure, often poorly-trained to be suspicious in the face of danger. Between February and April 2020, the NGO has identified 199 incidents, according to it, by the security forces in mali, niger or burkina faso: 57 extrajudicial executions and 142 forced disappearances.
see also : In the meantime “Takuba”, “Barkhane” continuing its operations in the Sahel
“Amnesty international urges the governments of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger to investigate” on these facts, urged by the NGOS. For Paris, who has committed an extra effort since the beginning of the year to tilt the balance of power on the ground, these atrocities are a matter of concern and regular dialogue with partner forces. These acts “intolerable” may “pose a credibility problem”, it was said a few weeks ago within the staff. The units on the ground “have not been witnesses of such behaviour,” provided, but the command “is obliged to condemn the actions not in conformity with the law of armed conflict”, repeated it, ensuring that the French State asked surveys if necessary. Of “legal adviser”, the legal advisors, are also systematically present for all joint operations planned. The latter are more numerous. But often the armed regional lead their own recovery operations to control the territory.
Arrests
meanwhile, “the insecurity in the Sahel, where the population is trapped between the attacks of armed groups and ongoing military operations,” said in a press release Samira Daoud, director for the West Africa and central Africa at Amnesty International. “We know that the army (malian) conducts each time to dozens of arbitrary arrests, and that some of the people arrested do not respawn ever, but we do not know the actual extent of the violations committed by the security forces”, she adds.
see also : Sahel: the future of the “Barkhane” plays out in the coming months.
The NGO has collected testimonies. “When the soldiers arrived, they started shooting,” said a witness to the organization, after the intervention of the malian army at Kogoni-Fulani, on 3 February, in the framework of the operation Maliko. “Many villagers have fled, those who were near the mosque gave the alarm and many others are refugees in the bush, outside the village,” he continued. The malian soldiers have killed a shepherd. “He was in the second group, but it has not been able to reach the bush. I was also among those who fled, I was able to escape but not him”, told the witness to Amnesty. Two other inhabitants were arrested. “On February 4, Oumar Diallo, an elected official, has been entrusted by the people of Kogoni-Fulani to ascertain from the soldiers of the fate of the two villagers arrested the day before and negotiate their release,” says the NGO in its report. “When he went to Ségou with the other villagers, they were arrested by soldiers (…) and held in [a] military camp where they were reportedly ill-treated. Four days later, they were transferred to Segou where Oumar Diallo died, either during the transfer or at the arrival at the camp,” says the NGO, which has collected other accounts of the same type, such as Belidanedji February 16. “When the soldiers arrived in the village, most of the people have fled to escape their fury. But they have arrested several villagers and executed four of my close friends. Then, they seized a portion of the fertilizer, supplies and many other items on the market,” reported a witness.
urban Exodus
In Burkina Faso, the NGO documenting other cases, such as for example the execution of 31 people of Djibo, April 9, by the Grouping of forces and counter-terrorism. The military justice system in burkina faso investigating this case. In Niger also, Amnesty reports of disappearances. “The town of Inates is deserted by its inhabitants, and most are parties to the South, closer to the urban centres, because of the insecurity,” said a witness.
The report of the NGO is added to the division of human rights of the Minusma, the stabilization force of the UN in Mali, which had recorded in the first quarter of 2020 an increase of abuses in the region. “The division has noted with concern the involvement of more and more increasing of the security Forces of mali in the violations of the rights of man,” read one. The division had accounted for 101 extra-judicial executions and 32 enforced disappearances.
At the top of Pau, in January last, the countries of the G5 Sahel (Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Chad) were committed to strengthen their efforts to take over the terrorist groups and to prevent the stalling of the conflict. For France, the resolution of the security crisis in the Sahel passes as much by the tactical victories against terrorists only by the restoration of the rule of law. The multiplication overflows could hold the table.
The editorial team conseilleLa rivalry between al-Qaida and the AR sets the SahelSécurité and development: a continuity of the fighting in SahelLe G5 Sahel fight the jihad the Qur’an to the mainSujetsSahelMaliNigerBurkina FasoConflits ArmésBarkhane29 commentairespopote31130le 10/06/2020 at 09:11
the media is décrédibilisent every day with their fake news like this article after you shoot our police, they shoot at our military, knowing that often the terrorists hide in the population 80-90 % of French people think that their police service is doing a good job it is the same for our soldiers who give their lives in the service of the country.the left and environmentalists in the media(74%left) the associations and foundations and all of these minorities and lobby are doing everything they can to destroy the values of the republic
Vincent NETTERle 10/06/2020 at 09:03 pm
However, it is well known that only white people are bad.
Gilles and Jonesle 10/06/2020 at 08:57
to spawn with the americans, all this was predictable and can only have an impact deleterious : pétoche and rolling mechanical are the traits of an army of occupation
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