Families mourn and call for probe after Malian soldiers accused of massacre
BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — Military personnel in Mali carried out 'apparent summary executions' of at least 22 people in the conflict-hit central region of the country, advocacy group Human Rights Watch said Tuesday.
At least three families and two local leaders recounted to The Associated Press how Malian soldiers seized more than 20 men from a market in the village of Diafarabé in the central Mopti region. The men's bodies were later found in two mass graves.
Diafarabé, whose inhabitants mostly belong to the Fulani ethnic group, is in an area where JNIM, an Al Qaida-linked extremist organization, is active and regularly targets the Malian army with attacks.
Such extrajudicial killings are becoming increasingly common under Mali's military junta, including late last year when Human Rights Watch accused the army and Russia's Wagner Group of killing dozens of civilians and setting fire to at least 100 houses during military operations.
In a new report on Tuesday, HRW called for an independent investigation into the killings, saying the probe being led by the military 'raises grave concerns that the inquiry will not be independent or impartial.'
Locals previously told the AP the Malian army arrested the victims of the latest killings at the market in Diafarabé, but one escaped from custody and, upon return, raised the alarm that others had been executed.
In interviews with AP this week, villagers recounted seeing decomposing bodies in the graves.
"The villagers of Diafarabé went to the location ... and they discovered two mass graves,' said Diowro Diallo, president of the local Fulani association Dental Wuwardé.
Among those killed was Abba Dicko, 44, one of his relatives said, speaking anonymously out of fear for their safety.
"The bodies were in such a state of decomposition that we could not identify them or count them accurately, but we believe the account of the person who escaped the massacre and raised the alarm,' the relative said.
Another resident who gave only his first name as Cissé for fear of being arrested, said his 32-year-old son and cousin were among the victims.
'I saw the soldiers come to the market to kidnap my relatives. The arrested individuals are well-known in the village. I never imagined they would be killed in this way,' he added.
Villagers also spoke about growing fear and tension in the aftermath of the killings.
'We are asking the authorities to remove the soldiers to avoid further incidents,' said one resident who said he lost four of his relatives.
The Malian military has not provided any update from the inquiry it said it opened last week.
Human rights experts, however, see little or no positive outcome from such a probe, citing past incidents whose investigations never resulted in any action.
The military authorities have not made any progress in ensuring justice for the victims of serious rights abuses in the course of the country's deadly conflict, said Ilaria Allegrozzi, senior Sahel researcher at HRW. The failure to hold members of the security forces and the Wagner Group to account for grave abuses "has eased the way for further atrocities,' Allegrozzi added.
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