Between March 27 and 31, in this region of central Mali, summary executions of civilians and rapes took place, according to witnesses and the NGO Human Rights Watch. A version contradicted by the Malian army.
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Malian military justice announced, Wednesday, April 6 in the evening, the opening of investigations into the massacres of Moura, a city located in the center of the country. Testimonies report the mass execution of civilians by Malian soldiers and foreign fighters between March 27 and 31.
These investigations were opened by the national gendarmerie “on instructions from the Department of Defense and Veterans Affairs”writes in a press release the prosecutor at the military court of Mopti, a large city near Moura. The prosecutor will go “very soon” on site with investigators and a medical examiner, the statement said.
For his part, the UN envoy for Mali, El-Ghassim Wane, assured that he was “imperative that the Malian authorities provide the necessary cooperation so that the Minusma [La mission de Casques bleus de l’ONU] has access to the site of the alleged violations, in accordance with its mandate”.
The versions of witnesses and the NGO Human Rights Watch report hundreds summary executions of civilians, rape and looting committed by Malian soldiers and suspected Russian foreign fighters. The NGO even speaks of the “worst episode of atrocities” committed since the outbreak of violence in Mali in 2012.
These releases differ diametrically from that of the Malian army, which regained power in the country by force in 2020. The latter claims to have “neutralized” 203 jihadists during a major operation. On Wednesday, the UN independent expert on human rights in Mali, Alioune Tine, mingled his voice with those of France, the United States, the European Union and the Malian Commission for human rights to request an investigation. The town of Moura is located in a region which is one of the main centers of violence in the Sahel.