Since 2012 Northern and Central Mali have been troubled by a conflict that has created many thousands of victims. The conflict has pitted the Malian State against armed terrorist groups and degenerated into intercommunal clashes. The last two years have seen a resurgence of violence and attacks [1] and the perpetration of serious new crimes.
The extent and gravity of the crimes under investigation and at trial are unprecedented in the recent history of Mali. Our organisations have met over 500 victims and witnesses in recent years. They have initiated or participated in a dozen judicial proceedings, supporting over 180 civil parties before the courts. The report published today revisits the status of several emblematic cases.
The last twelve months have enabled considerable advances, with the opening of the trial of former President and coup leader Amadou Haya Sanogo and his accomplices, who are being prosecuted for the summary execution of over twenty “red berets”, and the conviction by Malian courts of the former Chief of Islamic Police of Gao, Aliou Mahamane Touré. Furthermore, a judicial unit specialising in the fight against terrorism and a truth justice and reconciliation commission were created and then assumed their duties in 2015.
“In recent months we may have achieved more through the justice system than has been accomplished with weapons: the recognition of the crimes of the putsch leaders and armed groups. Peace will be won both by re-establishing security and by meeting the needs of truth, justice and reconciliation,”
The report also describes, however, how other cases still have not gone to trial, such as crimes of sexual violence perpetrated systematically by jihadist groups in Northern Mali in 2012-2013. Although arrest warrants were filed and dozens of people arrested and charged in 2013, none of them has since been apprehended, although those crimes constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity. In 2014 and 2015 our organisations filed two complaints [2] as civil parties, representing over one hundred victims. Several other proceedings await resumption, notably those concerning the Agueloc massacre (153 Malian soldiers executed); the Kati mutiny; the “Missing Persons of Timbuktu [Tombouctou]”; and other crimes committed by all the forces involved in the “reconquest of Northern Mali” in 2013.
The ambivalent security and political context continues to hang over the judicial proceedings.
The escalation of violence and attacks is having negative consequences. It is preventing the return of a functioning judicial system in Northern and Central Mali [3] and pushing the State to concentrate its resources on security and military responses. Furthermore, agreements that have been reached for political resolution of the conflict – or for the release of hostages – have led to the release of or dismissal of charges against individuals suspected of serious crimes [4]. As for the Sanogo trial, it has still not resumed, a year to the day after it was suspended for procedural error in the conduct of the forensic medical examinations.
Finally, while the June 2015 Peace Agreement enshrines the imprescriptible nature of war crimes and crimes against humanity and the position of “no amnesty” for the perpetrators of those crimes, its implementation remains stalled [5].
“Although the fight against impunity is not the only possible solution to the conflict, there can be no peace without a modicum of justice. Malians expect their courts to settle disputes and protect them from the arbitrary actions of armed men, and thereby to help their country emerge from the crisis that it has suffered since 2012,”
Read the report : Mali: Choosing Justice in the Face of Crisis