Un concern mounts over alleged abuses by Sahel armies

During a Security Council videoconference focused on the Sahel, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations, emphatically stated, “I urge the G5 Sahel Joint Force and its member states to spare no effort” in upholding human rights. This apprehension has been consistently voiced for several months, coinciding with ongoing condemnations of jihadist actions and inter-communal violence in the area.

In early April, the UN mission in Mali, MINUSMA, highlighted the “proliferation” of alleged misconduct attributed to the national armies. MINUSMA documented 101 extrajudicial killings by the Malian army between January and March, alongside approximately 30 more by the Nigerien army on Malian territory. Guillaume Ngefa, Director of MINUSMA’s Human Rights Division, confirmed that “these figures, names, and circumstances have been thoroughly documented.”

Mid-May saw the deaths of twelve individuals, detained on suspicion of collaborating with jihadists, in gendarmerie cells in Burkina Faso. Relatives and non-governmental organizations assert that these were civilians who were summarily executed. Judicial investigations into these incidents have been promised.

serious allegations surface

In Niger, a list of disappeared persons circulated in April suggested that 102 individuals were killed by the army in the Tillabéri region, located in the west of the country. While the Ministry of Defense announced an inquiry, it simultaneously commended the “professionalism” of its troops.

Consistently, human rights organizations have released lists of names and photographs, lamenting the disappearance of individuals following military operations. A significant number of those who vanished are Fulani, a community often unfairly associated with jihadist complicity.

An anonymous official from the Malian Fulani association Tabital Pulaaku expressed frustration, stating, “We can produce reports, denounce that so many Fulani have been killed and thrown into a well, or show the world a mass grave, but nothing is done afterwards.”

Abou Sow, President of Tabital Pulaaku, countered the broad generalizations, telling the press, “It is undeniable that some Fulani have turned to jihadism, but it is naive to reduce jihadism to a single ethnicity.”

Sahelian governments have historically presented a united front in support of their armies. These forces, often underequipped and undertrained, bear a heavy cost in the ongoing battle against extremism.

Speaking before the Security Council on behalf of the G5 Sahel nations (Mauritania, Chad, Niger, Burkina Faso, and Mali), Mauritanian Foreign Minister Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed affirmed that “the achievement of full capability for the Joint Force is understood to encompass its capacity to fully integrate the human rights dimension.” He assured that Mauritania “is undertaking actions to ensure respect for the law.” Abdou Abarry, Niger’s Ambassador and a non-permanent member of the Council, reiterated, “We are fully committed to human rights,” as countries like Belgium voiced concern over “very serious allegations.”

a critical juncture for the Sahel

Following its meeting, the Security Council released a statement on Friday, noting that it “has taken note of the measures announced by several Sahel governments in response to these allegations of human rights violations, and encourages their finalization.”

The accusations against national armies emerge at a pivotal moment for the Sahel region. The UN, for its part, faces skepticism from some Security Council members regarding the scale of its mission in Mali, which comprised 13,000 personnel in mid-June.

France, too, re-evaluated the terms of its engagement in the Sahel after 13 French soldiers lost their lives in November. Despite the presence of the UN mission (MINUSMA), whose mandate is due for renewal, France’s forces, and the G5 Sahel Joint Force established in 2017, the surge of violence has remained unchecked, leading to thousands of deaths and hundreds of thousands displaced since 2012.

Ibrahim Maïga, from the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) in Bamako, suggests that “civilian protection is merely a related objective” compared to the military forces’ “number one priority, which is to neutralize” jihadists.

In May, General Pascal Facon, commander of the French anti-jihadist force, when questioned by AFP about the alleged abuses by national armies, described them as “intolerable” and potentially damaging to the “credibility of the forces.”