Un warns over escalating Sahel military abuses
Reports of forced disappearances and summary executions are increasingly targeting soldiers from Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger. These allegations of civilian abuses by national armies, engaged in the fight against jihadist groups across the Sahel, have sparked significant concern from the United Nations.
During a recent UN Security Council video conference focused on the Sahel region, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, the UN Assistant Secretary-General for Peace Operations, emphatically urged the G5 Sahel Joint Force and its member states to prioritize and uphold human rights without reservation.
This mounting apprehension has been consistently voiced for several months, coinciding with growing condemnation of both jihadist atrocities and escalating inter-communal violence in the region.
In early April, the UN mission in Mali, known as MINUSMA, highlighted a “proliferation” of alleged misconduct by national military forces. MINUSMA documented 101 extrajudicial killings attributed to the Malian army between January and March, alongside approximately thirty others carried out by the Nigerien army within Malian territory. Guillaume Ngefa, Director of MINUSMA’s Human Rights Division, confirmed that “these figures, including names and specific circumstances, have been thoroughly recorded.”
Mid-May saw the deaths of twelve individuals, detained on suspicion of complicity with jihadists, in gendarmerie cells in Burkina Faso. Relatives and non-governmental organizations assert that these were civilians who were summarily executed, prompting judicial authorities to pledge thorough investigations.
– “very serious allegations” –
In Niger, a list circulating in April indicated that 102 people were allegedly killed by the army in the western Tillabéri region. While the Ministry of Defense promised an inquiry, it also commended the “professionalism” of its troops.
Consistently, human rights organizations have been publishing lists of names and photographs, lamenting the disappearance of individuals following military operations. A significant majority of those reported missing are Fulani, who are frequently and unfairly associated with jihadist collaborators.
An anonymous representative from the Malian Fulani association Tabital Pulaaku expressed frustration, stating, “We can compile reports, denounce that so many Fulani have been killed and thrown into wells, or show the world a mass grave, yet nothing is subsequently done.” Abou Sow, President of Tabital Pulaaku, further told the press that while “it is undeniable that some Fulani have embarked on the path of jihadism, it is naive to reduce jihadism to a single ethnicity.”
Sahelian governments have generally stood in solidarity with their national armies. These forces, often underequipped and inadequately trained, bear a substantial burden in the ongoing battle against jihadism.
Addressing the Security Council on behalf of the G5 Sahel (comprising Mauritania, Tchad, Niger, Burkina Faso, and Mali), Mauritanian Foreign Minister Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed affirmed that “achieving the full capacity of the Joint Force implies its ability to fully grasp the human rights dimension.” He assured that Mauritania is “undertaking actions to ensure respect for the law.” Nigerien Ambassador Abdou Abarry, a non-permanent member of the Council, echoed this sentiment, stating, “We fully adhere to human rights,” even as nations like Belgium voiced concerns over “very serious allegations.”
In a statement released after its meeting on Friday, the Security Council noted “the measures announced by several Sahel governments in response to these allegations of human rights violations, and encourages their finalization.”
These accusations against national armies emerge at a critical juncture for the Sahel region. The UN, for its part, faces skepticism from some Security Council members regarding the scale and effectiveness of its MINUSMA mission in Mali, which numbered 13,000 personnel by mid-June.
France, too, re-evaluated the terms of its engagement in the Sahel following the loss of 13 French soldiers in November. Despite the presence of French forces, MINUSMA (whose mandate is up for renewal), and the G5 Sahel Joint Force established in 2017, the escalating tide of violence has not been contained, leading to thousands of deaths and hundreds of thousands displaced since 2012.
Ibrahim Maïga, from the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) in Bamako, suggests that “civilian protection is merely a related objective” to the military’s “number one priority, which is to neutralize” jihadists. General Pascal Facon, commander of the French anti-jihadist force, when questioned by AFP in May about the alleged abuses by national armies, described them as “intolerable” and potentially damaging to “the credibility of the forces.”
