On Wednesday, experts from the United Nations urged Mali to investigate allegations of summary executions and enforced disappearances following the discovery of numerous bodies near a military camp earlier this month. The experts indicated that if the executions are verified, they could be classified as war crimes, while the disappearances might be considered crimes against humanity, expressing their ‘outrage’ in a statement.
Last week, ‘several dozen decomposing bodies’ were located on the outskirts of the Kwala military camp in the Koulikoro region of southwestern Mali, according to the statement. ‘We call on the Malian authorities to carry out prompt, effective, thorough, independent, impartial, and transparent investigations into these killings and enforced disappearances, in line with international law,’ it stated. Representatives from Mali’s military and defense ministry did not respond immediately to requests for comments on Wednesday.
A document shared with Reuters by the ethnic Fulani association Tabital Pulaaku indicated that the bodies discovered at the military camp were believed to belong to individuals arrested on April 12 in the village of Sebabougou, situated in the western Kayes region. According to Tabital Pulaaku, these arrests were made by Mali’s armed forces. While some individuals were released after questioning, over 60 people, predominantly ethnic Fulani, have been unaccounted for since the operation.
The U.N. experts, referencing ‘unconfirmed reports,’ stated that some of those detained in Sebabougou were taken to the Kwala camp, where they were interrogated and tortured before being executed by gunfire outside the camp. Reuters has not been able to independently verify this account. Following coups in 2020 and 2021, Mali’s military government has expelled French and other Western forces, seeking military assistance from Russia, particularly from the Wagner mercenary group.
In a statement on Monday, Mali’s armed forces reported conducting military operations against groups they labeled as ‘terrorist armed groups.’
