International condemnations are multiplying. After the discovery of a “massacre” in Moura, according to the organization Human Rights Watch (in English)France said to itself “seriously concerned”Monday, April 4, by possible “massive abuses” committed in this village in central Mali by Malian soldiers, “accompanied by mercenaries” of the Russian private group Wagner. According to the Quai d’Orsay, “hundreds of civilians” would have been killed.
“France calls for the rapid opening of national and international investigations to establish responsibility for these acts and bring their perpetrators to justice.”
The Ministry of Foreign Affairsin a press release
Minusma, the UN mission for stabilization in Mali, said on Saturday that it was “informed of the confrontations” between the Malian army and extremist groups and added to be “very concerned about the allegations of violence” against civilians. allegations “extremely disturbing”, had supported the US State Department on Sunday, mentioning in turn the presence of Wagner. Franceinfo returns to what we know of these abuses.
Army claims to have killed ‘terrorists’
On Friday evening, the Malian army claimed to have killed “203 fighters” of “armed terrorist groups” during an operation “large scope” in “the area of Moura”, between March 23 and 31. She added that she had arrested 51 jihadists. This operation followed, according to the Malian army, “to specific information” on “a meeting between different katibas” – a term for local jihadist groups, some of which are linked to Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb or the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara.
Since the beginning of the year, combatants from these katibas have killed “dozens of members of the security forces” in Mali, recalls Human Rights Watch. The NGO also points “a dramatic spike in killings of civilians and suspects since late 2021” by these jihadists, but also by the Malian forces. According to Human Rights Watch, the military operation in Moura caused the death of approximately “300 civilians, some of them [étant] suspected of being Islamist fighters”. A story that differs significantly from the version of the Malian army.
Witnesses report executions of civilians
The events began on March 27 around 10 a.m., according to witnesses interviewed by Human Rights Watch. As pointed out Release, Katiba Macina fighters, affiliated with the Support Group for Islam and Muslims (GSIM), usually go to the Moura cattle market every Sunday to get supplies and carry out sermons. Nineteen witnesses reported the first shots exchanged between soldiers and armed Islamist fighters, resulting in the death of several civilians. According to a witness, a helicopter flying over the market fired on residents trying to flee.
Soldiers then “patrolled through the city, executing some men as they tried to flee and arresting several hundred unarmed men from the market or in their homes”, reports Human Rights Watch. According to witnesses interviewed by the NGO, some of those arrested were known Islamist fighters, but the others were residents of Moura and its surroundings.
The arrested men were taken to an area to the east of the village, and were held there until March 31. For four days, “the soldiers ordered the detainees, in groups of 4, 6 or up to 10, to get up and walk for several tens, even hundreds of meters. There, the Malian and foreign soldiers summarily executed them”says Human Rights Watch.
“The sound of gunfire echoed through our village from Monday to Thursday.”
A resident of Mouraquoted by Human Rights Watch
Several witnesses reported that people were executed on the basis of their appearance. “Many men were killed because they had been forced by jihadists to let their beards grow”, says a witness. Others spoke of executions linked to people’s ethnic origin. According to a village resident, “the soldiers appeared to be targeting the Fulani”.
“On speaks of a siege, triages of unarmed individuals, series of extrajudicial executions during a period of four days”underlines Ousmane Diallo, researcher at Amnesty International, based in Dakar. And this specialist in the Sahel to evoke acts “very methodical, which seemed planned”.
Hundreds of people died
“How can they say that no civilians were killed when in front of my door seven were executed, including three of my cousins who are herders!” reacted a resident to Release. Estimates received by Ousmane Diallo report 150 to 500 dead. “At least 200 to 300 people were killed”, believes the researcher, relying on the words of a dozen “survivors and local sources”.
“We estimate that a large majority of those executed, around 80%, were civilians.”
Ousmane Diallo, researcher at Amnesty Internationalat franceinfo
“What is clear is that the men were unarmed when they were executed”, continues Bénédicte Jeannerod, director of Human Rights Watch in France.
According to two witnesses quoted by the NGO, several dozen detainees were forced to dig three mass graves in Moura during the army operation. “Residents have explained that they had to bury their dead themselves in a chain, they speak of mass graves and charred bodies”, also reports RFI. The testimonies collected by Human Rights Watch also relate to cases of theft of “jewellery, money and other goods in dwellings” as well as “dozens of dead burned”. “Empty houses were looted”, press Release.
According to villagers interviewed by the daily, “several young women were taken in the evening to the soldiers’ camp, where they were allegedly raped”. Human Rights Watch is still awaiting sufficiently reliable information in this regard. Ousmane Diallo, of Amnesty International, evokes “several secondary sources” having talked about “case of rape in Moura”. “But we have to do some corroborating work” about it, he says.
Russian militiamen reportedly participated
The Malian army is far from having acted alone. According to “several safe sources” at Human Rights Watch, the operation carried out in Moura “involved more than 100 Russian servicemen”, alongside Malian soldiers. A trader interviewed by the NGO claimed to have seen “white soldiers”, Russians according to him, execute 19 men in four days. “Witnesses consistently describe to us white soldiers taking part in the operations who they believe to be Russians, also because of authorities’ statements that Russian ‘trainers’ were deployed in Mali”emphasizes Bénédicte Jeannerod.
“The European Union, the United States, France among others believe that these soldiers are part of Wagner.”
Bénédicte Jeannerod, Director of Human Rights Watch in Franceat franceinfo
Ousmane Diallo also sweeps away any doubt about their presence: “VSThey are clearly members of the Wagner group. This is said by all the sources consulted. In mid-February, the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jean-Yves Le Drian, estimated that around 1,000 the number of mercenaries from the Wagner group present in Mali.