Anjali Sharma
GG News Bureau
UNITED NATIONS, 2nd Feb. UN human rights chief Volker Türk on Thursday voiced shock at credible reports alleged that Malian armed forces and foreign military personnel executed at least 25 people last week, in a press release issued in New York.
OHCHR reported that the alleged massacre happened in Welingara village in the Nara region of central Mali on 26 January.
Some 30 civilians were also reportedly killed by unidentified gunmen in the Bandiagara region at the weekend.
Mr. Volker called for impartial investigations into the allegations, emphasized the need for justice in accordance with international standards.
He urged the Malian authorities to ensure that their troops “as well as their agents or allies” adhered to human rights law and international humanitarian law, particularly regarding the protection of civilians.
A fact-finding report from the UN human rights office released last May in relation to allegations of a massacre of over 500 people in the village of Moura in March 2022, documented witnesses who described “armed white men” fighting alongside Malian soldiers.
This report followed allegations made a year ago by independent human rights experts that the Russia-based Wagner mercenary group had been involved, described a “climate of terror and impunity” surrounded the military contractors’ activities in Mali.
OHCHR has verified two other incidents involving the alleged killings of at least 31 civilians by Malian armed forces and “allied foreign military personnel” last September and October.
The agency noted that in the September killings, 14 herders were allegedly executed in Ndoupa in the Segou region while on 5 October, 17 civilians were reportedly executed in Ersane village in the Gao region.
OHCHR noted that no official investigations into these incidents have been reported.
