The destruction of the mausoleums of the Muslim saints in Timbuktu symbolized the jihadist violence that hit northern Mali in 2012. After an exemplary reconstruction of this heritage of humanity, a symbolic euro was handed over to the victims on Tuesday: l Malian State and the entire international community.
In September 2016, the International Criminal Court (ICC) sentenced the Malian jihadist Ahmad al Faqi al Mahdi to nine years in prison for having, in 2012, "
intentionally directed attacks
" against nine of the mausoleums of Timbuktu, listed as World Heritage by humanity by Unesco since 1988.
In 2016, the International Criminal Court (ICC) sentenced the Malian jihadist Ahmad al Faqi al Mahdi to nine years in prison Bas Czerwinski / ANP / AFP
He was at the time a member of Ansar Dine, one of the jihadist groups linked to Al Qaeda that controlled northern Mali for about ten months in 2012, before being largely driven out by an international intervention triggered. in January 2013 by France.
The ICC, which sits in The Hague, had estimated that Ahmad al Faqi al Mahdi had caused 2.7 million euros in damage and had ordered reparations for the victims.
In terms of symbolic reparations, she ordered the payment of one euro to the Malian state and to the international community, represented by Unesco.
The handing over of this euro, during a ceremony Tuesday in Bamako, constitutes the "
crowning of a court decision which sanctions the destruction of cultural property as war crimes
", underlined the transitional president of Mali, Bah Ndaw.
This decision must become "
an example
", he pleaded, as deadly jihadist attacks continue in northern and central Mali and in neighboring countries such as Burkina Faso and Niger.
This euro is “
an immeasurable symbol of the harm we have all suffered and of our willingness to say 'Never again!'
», Assured Mama Koité Doumbia, president of the Fund for the benefit of victims, independent body set up by the Rome Statute, the founding treaty of the ICC.
The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Fatou Bensouda, for her part reaffirmed the commitment of her services to "
defend what is the basis of our common identity
".
Malian cultural heritage is "
the mirror of humanity
", she said, insisting that "
impunity is not an option
" and that "
the victims must be repaired and their dignity restored
".
Identically rebuilt
The figures venerated in the twenty or so Islamic mausoleums of Timbuktu, the oldest of which date back to the 14th century, have earned the city its nickname "
City of 333 saints
".
Destroyed with a pickaxe, chisel and hoe, they were rebuilt identically between March 2014 and July 2015 as part of a program implemented by Unesco and funded by several countries and institutions, with the help from a group of local masons.
The figures venerated in the twenty or so Islamic mausoleums of Timbuktu, the oldest of which date back to the 14th century, have earned the city its nickname "
City of 333 saints
".
SEBASTIEN RIEUSSEC / AFP
The heritage of Timbuktu was “
targeted (by the jihadists) because it told a story rich in meaning for the Malian people.
The mausoleums are now standing and the manuscripts saved in safe places
”, underlined Tuesday in Bamako the deputy director general of Unesco, Xing Qu.
The representative of the victims of Timbuktu, Harber Kounta, thanked the ICC, but underlined that "
the architectural landscape which made the pride of Timbuktu remains in suffering
", citing the problems of town planning, the lack of means and the pollution.
The trial of another Malian jihadist, Hassan Ag Abdoul Aziz Ag Mohamed Ag Mahmoud, considered to be the commissioner of the Islamic police in Timbuktu, opened before the ICC in July 2020. He is being prosecuted for having also participated in the destruction of mausoleums in Timbuktu and for war crimes and crimes against humanity, rape and sexual slavery committed in the context of forced marriages.
