A much-awaited report released by the United Nations (UN) on Friday claimed that at least 500 people were executed by foreign fighters and the Malian army during an anti-militant operation carried out in Mali in March 2022.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) released the figures which revealed the worst atrocity the Sahel country has gone through since a militant insurgency flared in 2012.
The report is also the most damning document released till now against the armed forces of Mali and their foreign allies.
In the report, their nationality is not explicitly identified, although Mali has brought in Russians which the western claim are Wagner mercenaries.
Explaining the events that unfolded in Mali’s central town of Moura between March 27 and March 31 last year, the OHCHR said that it had “reasonable grounds to believe that at least 500 people were killed in violation of norms, standards, rules and/or principles of international law.”
The victims were “executed by the FAMa (Malian Armed Forces) and foreign military personnel” who were completely controlling the area, it said.
The UN peacekeeping mission’s human rights division in Mali, MINUSMA published the report after a lengthy investigation.
According to the report, around 20 women and seven children were killed, while evidence indicated that 58 women and girls were victims of rape and sexual violence.
Acts of torture were carried over people who had been detained, it stated.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk termed the findings “extremely disturbing”.
“Summary executions, rape and torture during armed conflict amount to war crimes and could, depending on the circumstances, amount to crimes against humanity,” he stated in a statement.
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Mali’s ruling junta did not react to the report on Friday. A military junta rules Mali after it toppled the elected president of the country in 2020 amid protests over the failure to roll back the militants.
After taking over Mali, the junta brought in Russian operatives and warplanes to assist its beleaguered armed forces and broke ties with France, which was the traditional ally of the country.
The army junta claims that Russians are providing military training and denies the accusations of them being Wagner mercenaries.
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