Mali conflict: Human Rights Watch accuses army, jihadists and rebels of grave civilian abuses

In a report released on Monday, June 29, Human Rights Watch (HRW) alleges that the jihadist group JNIM, the Tuareg rebel FLA, the Malian army, and the Russian mercenaries of Africa Corps have committed serious abuses against civilians since the coordinated attacks that began in April across Mali.

The NGO states that “all parties have illegally attacked civilians” and that some also “destroyed and looted their homes and businesses.” The fighting that erupted after the JNIM and FLA offensive against multiple junta positions reportedly killed at least 13 civilians and wounded 25 others in Gao and Kidal.

A 38-year-old resident of Kidal recounted being injured during the clashes. “I was hit by bullets in my right shoulder and left thigh,” he explained, unable to identify the source of the fire, “the shots came from all directions.”

Executions, strikes and destruction denounced

HRW also accuses JNIM of burning more than 40 civilian vehicles between May 6 and 21 on the roads leading to Bamako and of having “publicly executed a man” in the town of Tonka. “We recovered his body (…) with a bullet in the head,” testified a resident interviewed by the NGO.

The organization also implicates the Malian army, which it accuses of killing 38 civilians, including 23 children, during operations against Peul communities in central Mali. Two presumed drone strikes are also mentioned, in Guimbé and Tené. “I heard a noise from the sky then an explosion,” a resident of Tené recounted. “We saw that the damage was enormous, with dead and wounded.”

To establish these facts, HRW says it conducted 34 remote interviews, analyzed satellite images, videos and photographs. The NGO states it contacted the Malian authorities without receiving a response. JNIM stated that “there can be no war without human costs,” while the FLA assured that it had “taken sufficient measures so that civilians are not collateral victims of the fighting.”