Bamako — The fallout from Amnesty International’s latest investigation into Mali is only beginning to take shape, and it is already forcing a difficult public conversation about what happens next. The report, released on 28 September 2026, accuses members of the Malian Armed Forces (FAMa), operating alongside foreign fighters from the Wagner group, of committing war crimes against civilians between 2023 and 2025.
What the report says and why it is now part of a wider debate
Titled “No one is spared”, the investigation draws heavily on research conducted in Mauritania among Malian refugees. Amnesty International says it collected testimony from 119 people from the Ségou, Mopti and Tombouctou regions, cross-checked their accounts with other sources and analyzed information related to military operations.
The findings are stark: at least 34 civilians are said to have been killed in seven Malian localities between June 2023 and December 2025 during operations attributed to Malian forces and their Wagner allies. The organization also documents cases of torture, enforced disappearance, looting and the destruction of civilian property.
Pastoral communities and the risk of collective punishment
The documented incidents are concentrated in Mali’s central and northern regions, particularly Ségou, Mopti and Tombouctou — areas long battered by insecurity and armed group activity.
According to Amnesty International, some victims were killed as they tried to flee or after being arrested. The organization also reports cases in which people were allegedly beheaded or burned. In Tin Adanda, in the Tombouctou region, four people are said to have been killed during a joint patrol in February 2025.
One of the report’s central concerns is the treatment of pastoral populations, notably Fulani, Arab and Tuareg communities. Amnesty estimates that many of the victims belonged to these groups, accused or suspected of links to armed groups because of their origin or their presence in areas controlled or frequented by insurgents.
The organization warns against what it sees as a dangerous drift: treating an entire community as synonymous with armed groups could expose civilians to collective reprisals.
Drone strikes at the centre of the accusations
The report also examines two drone strikes carried out in 2025 by Malian forces in the Tombouctou region. Amnesty says they killed at least 23 people, including at least five children.
One of the most extensively documented cases concerns the Ejdeir market, hit on 16 March 2025. According to Amnesty, 16 people were killed and seven others wounded. The organization says it found no evidence establishing the presence of fighters or military objectives at the market at the time of the strike.
Malian authorities had stated that they targeted “meetings of terrorists”. Amnesty says the geographical information provided by the authorities matches the location struck at Ejdeir. In the absence of a verified military target, the organization considers that such an attack could amount to a direct attack on civilians and should be investigated as a possible war crime.
The issue is especially sensitive in a conflict where Malian authorities present military operations as necessary to fight jihadist groups and other armed organizations. Amnesty’s report does not challenge, in principle, the authorities’ right to fight armed groups. It insists, however, on the obligation to respect international humanitarian law and protect civilian populations.
Torture allegations inside military bases
Another particularly grave section of the report concerns accusations of torture and ill-treatment of detainees.
Amnesty International says it interviewed 15 men who said they were tortured during joint patrols or in military bases, notably in Léré and Nampala. The organization says their accounts were corroborated by witnesses who said they had seen torture involving around 30 people.
The methods described are brutal: suspending detainees by the arms, simulated drowning, beatings with metal bars or sticks, and electric shocks. According to Amnesty, five people died in military bases as a result of torture or poor detention conditions.
The report states that the acts were mainly committed by Wagner members, sometimes in the presence of Malian soldiers. Some individuals were allegedly held for days or months without being brought before a court, without access to legal assistance or contact with their families.
Wagner’s departure and the Africa Corps question
The report lands as Russia’s presence in Mali has evolved. The Wagner group, present in the country since late 2021, was replaced in June 2025 by the Africa Corps, a structure placed under the control of the Russian Ministry of Defence.
Amnesty International is therefore calling on Malian authorities to publicly clarify their relations with the Africa Corps and the oversight mechanisms applicable to its members. For the organization, a change of structure must not translate into an absence of accountability when violations of international law are committed.
The shift comes amid a deep transformation of Mali’s security policy. Since the 2020 coup, the authorities have progressively strengthened military cooperation with Russia while reducing their reliance on Western partners.
A crisis that goes beyond government forces
Amnesty International nonetheless stresses that the documented abuses cannot be attributed to one side alone. In recent years, armed groups active in Mali have also been accused of serious violations of international humanitarian law.
The organization recalls that armed groups have committed unlawful killings, kidnappings and other abuses against civilian populations. That precision matters in a complex conflict involving multiple armed actors, where civilians are often caught between different forces.
The humanitarian situation remains worrying. According to data presented by Amnesty in its Mali assessment, more than 2,036 schools were closed because of insecurity, depriving hundreds of thousands of children of access to education.
The question of impunity and what comes next
Beyond the accusations themselves, the report raises a central question: that of justice.
Amnesty International says it sent its findings to Malian authorities on 3 August 2026 and had received no response at the time of publication. The organization is calling on Bamako to open “effective and impartial” investigations into the alleged crimes and to prosecute those responsible, where evidence warrants it, before courts that uphold fair-trial guarantees.
The judicial question takes on an additional dimension after Mali’s June 2026 announcement that it would withdraw from the Rome Statute, the founding treaty of the International Criminal Court. According to Amnesty, that withdrawal does not end proceedings already covered by the ICC’s jurisdiction: the court would retain jurisdiction over crimes within its mandate committed during the legally applicable period.
In this context, Amnesty International’s report appears less as a simple inventory of abuses than as a warning about the risk of entrenched impunity.
For civilians in Ségou, Mopti and Tombouctou, the challenge remains immediate: surviving a conflict in which the line between combatants and civilians is often fragile. For Malian authorities, Amnesty’s accusations now represent another file that must be answered — in the name of protecting populations, but also of the credibility of the institutions meant to deliver justice.
Because behind the statistics — 34 documented deaths, dozens of detainees tortured and dozens more alleged victims — lies a reality harder to measure: displaced families, villages emptied of their inhabitants and a population still living between the threat of armed groups and the operations of security forces.
Amnesty’s report thus recalls a fundamental requirement of international law: fighting armed groups does not exempt any party to a conflict from protecting civilians. In Mali, the battle against insecurity is therefore also being fought on another front — that of justice, accountability and the protection of populations.
