Close Menu
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
    SweetCrudeReportsSweetCrudeReports
    Subscribe
    • Home
    • Oil
    • Gas
    • Power
    • Solid Minerals
    • Labour
    • Financing
    • Freight
    • Community Development
    • E-Editions
    SweetCrudeReportsSweetCrudeReports
    Home » Armed intervention in Mali risks worsening the crisis

    Armed intervention in Mali risks worsening the crisis

    December 21, 2012
    Share
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp

    21 December 2012, Sweetcrude/African Press Organization (APO), LONDON, United-Kingdom — The UN Security Council’s approval of armed intervention into Mali risks worsening the human rights and humanitarian crisis in the north, Amnesty International said today.

    The Council voted unanimously on Thursday to approve an African-led force with “use all necessary measures” at its disposal to take back the country’s north from “terrorist, extremist and armed groups”.

    “An international armed intervention is likely to increase the scale of human rights violations we are already seeing in this conflict,” said Salvatore Saguès, Amnesty International’s researcher on West Africa

    Civilians in the north are already suffering under the rule of the armed Islamist groups that have controlled the region since April 2012.

    Amnesty International fears that during the intervention, indiscriminate attacks, arbitrary detentions, torture, extrajudicial executions, and the use of child soldiers by both sides, could become even more widespread.

    In order to prevent a new surge in abuses, Amnesty International is calling on the UN to ensure that any military force is bound by effective safeguards for civilian protection. Human rights monitors must be sent to observe the conflict closely, with particular attention given to government-supported militias.

    “The United Nations has to ensure that any intervention force fully complies with international humanitarian and human rights law, and prioritises the protection of civilians caught in the conflict,” said Salvatore Saguès.

    “The African armed forces that could take part in this intervention should not have been involved in human rights abuses against their own population.”

    Since April 2012 Islamist groups in Mali’s north have imposed a reign of terror, introducing punishments such as amputations, flogging, and stoning to death for those who oppose their interpretation of Islam.

    At the beginning of the conflict, the Malian security forces responded to the uprising by bombing Tuareg civilians, and arresting, torturing and killing Tuareg people apparently only on ethnic grounds. Military intervention risks triggering further ethnic conflict in a country already riven by attacks on Tuareg and other lighter-skinned people.

    The Malian army is currently dominated by the military junta which overthrew the democratically elected President Amadou Toumani Touré in March 2012, and is still heavily influential in political life.

    Malian soldiers have been responsible for extrajudicial executions, enforced disappearances and torture. For example, a group of 16 Muslim preachers comprised of Malian and Mauritanian nationals were arrested and then executed by the Malian military in September 2012, in Diabaly (400 km northeast of Bamako).

    “The Malian soldiers have benefited from total impunity. We fear their participation in an armed intervention in the North might lead to further violations against a background of retaliation and revenge”, said Salvatore Saguès.

    Amnesty International is also urging the UN to prepare for a deepening refugee crisis. The conflict has already displaced up to 400,000 people, resulting in a flood of refugees to neighbouring countries poorly prepared to protect them, including countries suffering humanitarian crises due to region-wide food shortages.

    Related News

    Renewables to account for half of Brazil’s annual power output in 2035

    MAJI urges FG to ban single-use plastics, attract green investment

    Otedola plans investment expansion in power, banking sectors

    E-book
    Resilience Exhibition

    Latest News

    Crude climbs on US jobs report, China talks

    June 6, 2025

    Be deliberate in securing govt facilities in your communities – IBAS

    June 6, 2025

    UAE’s power capacity to reach 79.1GW in 2035

    June 6, 2025

    Gold steady near week high as markets brace for key US jobs data

    June 6, 2025

    Nigeria’s renewable power capacity to reach 1.7GW in 2035

    June 6, 2025
    Demo
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
    • Opec Daily Basket
    • Oil
    • Power
    • Gas
    • Freight
    • Financing
    • Labour
    • Technology
    • Solid Mineral
    • Conferences/Seminars
    • Community Development
    • Nigerian Content Initiative
    • Niger-Delta Question
    • Insurance
    • Other News
    • Focus
    • Feedback
    • Hanging Out With Markson

    Subscribe for Updates

    Get the latest energy news from Sweetcrudereports.

    Please wait...
    Please enter all required fields Click to hide
    Correct invalid entries Click to hide
    © 2025 Sweetcrudereports.
    • About Us
    • Advertise with us
    • Privacy Policy

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.