Malian military justice announced on Wednesday evening April 6 the opening of investigations into the recent events in Moura (center), where testimonies report the mass execution of civilians by Malian soldiers and foreign fighters.
Read alsoIn Mali, the appalling massacre of Moura
Following
"allegations of presumed abuses committed against civilians (...), investigations were opened by the national gendarmerie on instructions from the Ministry of Defense and Veterans Affairs to carry out in-depth investigations in order to do all the light on these allegations”
, wrote in a press release the prosecutor at the military court of Mopti, a large city near Moura.
The prosecutor will go
“very soon”
on the spot with investigators and a medical examiner, adds the press release.
'Worst episode of atrocities' since 2012
The military-dominated authorities who came to power by force in 2020 were under pressure from many quarters to open an independent investigation into the events that took place between March 27 and 31 in Moura, in a region which is one of the main centers Sahelian violence.
The Malian army and witnesses interviewed by the press or the NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW) offer diametrically opposed versions.
The army says it "neutralized" 203 jihadists during a major operation.
The witnesses quoted report a mass of summary executions of civilians, rapes and acts of looting committed by Malian soldiers and foreign fighters presumed to be Russians.
HRW says 300 civilians, including some suspected jihadists, were executed,
committed since the outbreak of violence in Mali in 2012.
Read alsoThese “Wagner” mercenaries who allow Russia to extend its influence
On Wednesday, the UN independent expert on human rights in Mali, Alioune Tine, added his voice to those of France, the United States, the European Union and the Malian Commission on human rights to request an investigation.
The UN spokesperson, Stéphane Dujarric, told the press in New York that the United Nations had opened an investigation and that experts from the UN Mission in Mali (Minusma) were seeking to visit the site
"the as soon as possible”
.
Such a trip is subject to the goodwill of the Malian authorities.
The press release from the Mopti military court says nothing about the possibility that its investigations involve non-Malian investigators.
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