A United Nations (UN) human rights expert has urged the government of Mali to open up the country’s civic space and encourage democratic debates following the improved security situation.

The founder of AfrikaJom Centre and former Amnesty International (AI) Regional Director for West Africa, Alioune Tine, made the request after an assessment visit to the country.

The humanitarian crisis in Mali worsened in 2021 following an increase in intercommunal violence and attacks by non-state armed groups in the country’s central, southern, and western regions.

Data from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) had estimated that 6.3 million people need urgent life-saving assistance in the country.

‘For the first time since the beginning of my visits in 2018, we note a tangible improvement in the security field on the issue of displaced persons, human rights, and endogenous peace dynamics, especially in central Mali; which is recognised by the Malian Defense and Security Forces, the Administration and the Malian civil society’, Tine said in an end-of-mission statement.

‘With regard to the human rights situation, the number of human rights violations and abuses documented during the last quarter of 2021 by MINUSMA fell by 27.10 percent, from 594 to 433’.

Tine also said, ‘The tangible improvements in the situation should not hide the serious security and human rights challenges that must be addressed by Mali and by the international community to reinforce and consolidate the progress made on the ground’.

Source: OHCHR

Photo source: United Nations