2024-04-16 11:00:55
Mali’s transitional military government should immediately reverse its decision to suspend political parties and associations, Human Rights Watch said today. Such a suspension would be in violation of both Malian law and the right to freedom of expression, association and assembly as defined by international human rights law.
Taken from the Human Right Watch website.
On April 10, Mali’s Council of Ministers adopted a decree suspending the activities of political parties and political associations “until further notice” throughout the country. On April 11, the Malian communications regulatory body, the High Authority of Communication (HAC), invited all media to “stop all broadcasting and publication [d’informations sur les] activities” of political parties and associations. This decision appeared to be in response to the March 31 call from more than 80 political parties and associations for a return to constitutional order, through the organization of the presidential election as soon as possible. The military junta, which seized power in a coup d’état in May 2021, announced in September 2023 that this election, initially scheduled for March 26, 2024, would be postponed to an indefinite date for technical reasons.
“Malian authorities appear to have suspended all political parties and associations because they did not like their call to hold democratic elections,” said Ilaria Allegrozzi, senior Sahel researcher at Human Rights Watch.
- “The Malian junta, like any other government, should respect human rights and immediately lift this suspension. »
After months of resumption of hostilities between armed separatist groups and Malian government troops in the north of the country, Colonel Assimi Goïta, transitional president of Mali, announced, on December 31, 2023, the opening of a “dialogue inter-Malian direct for peace and reconciliation”, aiming to eliminate “the roots of community and inter-community conflicts”, by establishing as a priority “national ownership of the peace process”. In a press release issued on April 10, Colonel Abdoulaye Maïga, Minister of Territorial Administration, affirmed that the suspension of political parties and associations was justified to ensure that the inter-Malian dialogue “ [se tiendrait] in a climate of serenity, not in cacophony.”
“The minister’s statement contains contradictions,” said a member of the African Solidarity for Democracy and Independence (SADI) political party. “The authorities invite citizens to a national dialogue but, at the same time, they deprive them of their political covering […] Who [les autorités] do they want to participate in this dialogue? People should be able to participate both as citizens and as political leaders or members of political parties.”
In January, authorities initiated proceedings against the SADI party, threatening to dissolve it, after a message from its leader, Oumar Mariko, was posted on social media. Mariko alleged that the Malian armed forces had committed war crimes against members of the Permanent Strategic Framework, a coalition of political and armed groups in northern Mali.
Since the military coup, the Malian junta has tightened its crackdown on peaceful dissent, political opposition, civil society and the media, increasingly shrinking civic space in the country, Human said. Rights Watch.
On March 13, the Minister of Territorial Administration dissolved the Association of Pupils and Students of Mali (AEEM), accusing its members of “violence and clashes in the school and university environment”. The AEEM was the fourth organization dissolved in less than four months. On March 6, the authorities dissolved the Coordination of Movements, Associations and Sympathizers of Imam Mahmoud Dicko (CMAS), which had called for the presidential election to be held as part of a process of return to a democratic regime. civil, accusing him of “destabilization and threat to public security”.
On February 28, authorities dissolved the political organization Kaoural Renouveau, accusing it of having made “defamatory and subversive remarks” against the military junta. And on December 20, they dissolved the Observatory for Elections and Good Governance, a civil society organization that monitored the fair conduct of the elections, accusing its president of “statements likely to disturb public order.”
The junta has also targeted dissidents and whistleblowers. On March 4, authorities forcibly disappeared gendarmerie colonel Alpha Yaya Sangaré, who had recently published a book on abuses committed by the Malian armed forces. We still don’t know where he is OR his location remains unknown to this day.
- A Malian human rights activist said that “the authorities want to maintain a monopoly on political power by denying their opponents the right to express their opinions and carry out political activities.”
Mali’s constitution, as well as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which Mali ratified in 1974, protects the rights to freedoms of association, expression and peaceful assembly. Article 25 of the Covenant ensures the right of citizens to participate in public affairs. The United Nations Human Rights Committee, the body of independent experts that monitors signatory states’ compliance with the pact, has upheld the right of all people to “join organizations and associations interested in human rights political and public. »
“The junta’s decision to suspend political parties comes in the context of its incessant repression of opposition and peaceful dissent,” said Ilaria Allegrozzi. “The authorities should immediately lift this suspension, allow political parties and associations to operate freely and commit to respecting fundamental rights and freedoms.”
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