from RUDD KONTE in Bamako, Mali
BAMAKO, (CAJ News) – AT least 527 civilians have been killed, injured, abducted or disappeared in Mali over the second quarter of the year.
This is an overall increase of more than 25 percent from the first quarter when 421 such incidents were documented.
The United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) on Monday released its quarterly note on trends in human rights violations and abuses in the West African country.
The second quarter of the year was marked by an increase in the number of civilians affected by violations and abuses of international human rights law and violations of international humanitarian law.
A majority of violent incidents against civilians were perpetrated by the Jama’at nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM), the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (EIGS), and other similar groups, which killed, injured, or abducted 54 percent of the victims recorded nationwide.
This was followed by community-based militias and self-defense groups (20 percent).
Human rights violations were also documented during security operations conducted by the Malian Defense and Security Forces (MDSF) and international and regional forces.
These accounted for 9 percent and 6 percent, respectively, of the total number of victims during the reporting period.
INUSMA nonetheless welcomed the efforts of the transitional authorities to hold perpetrators of human rights violations accountable.
“In this regard, it is worth noting the recent holding of criminal trials in Mopti and the signing of prosecution orders against military personnel who were allegedly involved in violations against civilians,” it stated.
A coup in May is the latest crisis in the country of some 20 million people.
– CAJ News