Mali: Army Executes Dozens over Rebel Link
By Staff Writer
BAMAKO---Malian troops have summarily executed dozens of people allegedly connected to the rebels fighting in the northern region of the country, a rights body has reported.
The International Federation of Human Rights League (FIDH) said on Thursday that at least 11 people in the central town of Sevare were executed by government troops, citing evidence gathered by local researchers.
20 other people are said to have been executed in the same area and their bodies dumped in wells, while some disposed of, according to the organisation.
FIDH says that Malian forces were responsible for some 33 killings, including the deaths of some ethnic Tuaregs, since January 10 along the narrow area that lies between the government-controlled south and the Islamist-held north.
Another rights group Human Rights Watch said its investigation team had spoken to witnesses who saw an execution of two Tuareg men by Malian troops in the village of Siribala, in another central town of Niono.
The Malian forces are part of a French-led operation launched two weeks ago to fight back Islamist militants holding the northern half of the country since April last year.
Mali’s army has denied claims of any abuses said to be targeting Arabs and Tuaregs, but promised to bring into account any soldier involved in the abuse.
"One mustn't get confused. Every white skin is not a terrorist or a jihadist and among the enemy which attacked our different position were many black skins. We are among brothers, whether one is black or white." Said General Ibrahima Dahirou Dembele, the Malian army chief.
The claims of abuses come amid the French mission in Mali receiving major backing in the west, as the regional troops expected to deploy ahead in the week.
French foreign minister Laurent Fabius has said his country “cannot accept any rights violations” adding that “the international community will face a very serious situation if (the intervention force) is identified with abuses.”
Fabius said the first contingent of troops the 15-state regional bloc, Ecowas and Chad numbering 1,000 had already arrived in Mali and were positioning in central towns near the frontier.
The UN Security Council in December mandated the deployment of a 3,300-strong force under the Ecowas command, but recent involvement of Chad could see the number pushed up.
Islamist groups and Tuareg rebels seized control of the northern region after President Amadou Toumani Toure was overthrown in March by a band of renegade government troops and have since advanced southwards, threatening to over-run the capital Bamako.