As Mali's Islamists retreat, Tuareg civilians fear vengeful army's reprisals

Source: Guardian

Sub headline : Amnesty International claims Malian soldiers have executed dozens of civilians after French-led forces drove out rebels.

Mustafa Mohammad was last seen alive 20 days ago. He was walking past a military camp when soldiers grabbed him. When he failed to return home, his son, Ataher, made inquiries. But nobody knew anything.

Gradually, however, rumours spread that Malian soldiers had rounded up anyone suspected of collaborating with the rebels – and that then they had secretly shot them, dumping their bodies at the bottom of a well.

Sitting in his home, a straw shack, and surrounded by members of his family and several goats, Ataher admitted his father was probably dead. He said the military had probably picked him out for two reasons: Mohammad was a Tuareg, and was piously dressed in a turban and traditional trousers.

Mohammad's disappearance from the town of Sévaré is part of an alarming pattern. According to Amnesty International, Malian soldiers carried out extrajudicial executions before and immediately after the French operation to drive Mali's rebels from the north.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jan/31/mali-army-accused-civilian-executions

---

Posted: 01 February 2013

Mali: New briefing reveals evidence of summary killings of civilians.

The Malian army has committed serious human rights abuses and violations of international humanitarian law during the conflict against armed groups in the country, including extrajudicial executions of civilians, according to evidence gathered by Amnesty International during a ten-day research trip to the West African country.

Releasing a new briefing based on the research today, Amnesty also said that Islamist armed groups have committed of serious human rights abuses and violations of international humanitarian law, including unlawful killings and the recruitment of child soldiers.

Additionally, said the organisation, there is evidence that at least five civilians, including three children, were killed in an airstrike carried out as part of a joint operation by the French and the Malian armies in order to stop the offensive of the Islamist armed groups.

http://www.amnesty.org.uk/news_details.asp?NewsID=20606