Human Rights Council
Twenty-eighth session
Agenda item 10
Technical assistance and capacity-building
Summary
In this report, which covers the period from 1 May to 29 December 2014, the Independent Expert gives an account of his third visit to Mali, from 7 to 17 October 2014.
He notes with concern that the progress observed during his second mission, in February 2014, in terms of strengthening State authority, deploying the administration in the north of the country and combating impunity has been called into question following the fighting that broke out in Kidal from 16 to 21 May 2014. These events which rekindled the power struggle between the Government and rebel groups have had major political, security and humanitarian repercussions in the country as well as serious consequences for the human rights situation there.
Armed movements, including terrorist groups, are gradually regaining control of the north of the country and, for the first time, members of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) are being targeted by the jihadi groups. This extremely worrying situation is keeping humanitarian actors away from people living in northern Mali who are thus deprived of access to basic social services.
The Independent Expert notes the contrast, since his last report, between the marked decrease in cases of violations of the right to life attributable to the Malian armed forces and the significant increase in violations of human rights and of international humanitarian law by the different armed groups in northern Mali. The rape of minors by certain members of the Malian armed forces is the main source of concern.
Armed and extremist groups present in the north of Mali continue to be involved in violations of human rights: violations of the right to life, abductions, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, unlawful detention, the recruitment and use of children by armed groups, asymmetrical attacks and looting.
The fragile security situation in northern Mali is pushing many groups, formed most often on the basis of their identity, to acquire weapons to defend their communities. Against a background of intercommunal and intracommunal tensions, sometimes manipulated by political and security actors, the risk of serious human rights violations among the civilian population is especially worrying.
The Independent Expert notes the Government’s efforts to reform the National Human Rights Commission so as to bring it into line with international standards as well as its efforts to establish mobile counselling centres to expedite judicial proceedings for crimes committed in the north of the country.
Regarding the peace process in Algiers, the Independent Expert emphasizes the importance of ensuring that any peace agreement comes under a legal framework in keeping with international human rights instruments, which means not granting amnesty to the perpetrators of international crimes such as genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and serious human rights violations, including sexual and gender-based violence. The Independent Expert stresses the fact that political arrangements often made to the detriment of victims of the serious human rights violations committed in Mali since the start of the crisis should not be a substitute for the rule of law.
