By Kåre Kristensen and Boubacar Ba
Executive summary
This report is based on interviews with Malians during the current crisis in that country.
Malians were astonished that the capacity of the Malian government and army could collapse to zero overnight. Many interviewees were worried about the problems of drug, weapons and people trafficking, and the kidnapping of foreigners for ransom.
The northern population has suffered violence from various groups, many of which imposed a harsh interpretation of sharia law that had been rejected by the local population and Mali’s Muslim leaders. Women have been harassed, while the amputation of hands for theft seems to be an attempt to intimidate the population.
Most people who fled the north want to return as soon as basic security and health systems and schools are functioning again. People expressed the need to organise intra- and intercommunity talks among representatives of different ethnic groups to prevent those who suffered various kinds of injustices from taking revenge.
Since the decentralisation process started in 1990 there has been more organised local cooperation and several women have been elected to municipal councils. These women are organised into a group to support one another and are ready to discuss peaceful solutions.
An often-mentioned problem is that of impunity. In the past rebels have been given government posts and no-one has been punished.