On Tuesday January 31, United Nations experts called for an independent investigation into alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Mali by government forces and the Wagner Group, a Russian private military contractor.
Mali, whose government seized control in a military takeover in 2021, has previously claimed that Russian forces stationed there are not mercenaries but rather trainers assisting local troops with equipment purchased from Moscow.
According to Western powers, Wagner Group contractors are among the Russian forces in Mali.
“Since 2021, the experts have received persistent and alarming accounts of horrific executions, mass graves, acts of torture, rape and sexual violence, pillaging, arbitrary detentions and enforced disappearances perpetrated by Malian armed forces and their allies,” said the statement from the independent experts.
Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, stated last year that Mali’s use of military contractors was not related to the Russian state and that Mali had the freedom to do business with private Russian companies.
Mali is involved in a struggle with armed organizations affiliated with al-Qaeda and ISIL (ISIS), which has lasted a decade and expanded to neighbouring countries.
In the statement, the Wagner Group was specifically mentioned along with reliable allegations linking members of the military to the group in the March atrocity that claimed hundreds of lives.
According to survivors, the massacre in Moura, a market town in central Mali, was carried out by white mercenaries who were thought to be Russians. The tragedy caused outrage around the world and led the United Nations to launch an early probe.
The Wagner Group has attracted international attention over its prominent role in fighting during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Following persistent violations of human rights, the United States last week designated Wagner as a “transnational criminal organization”.
Author-Roberta Appiah
