2023-08-31 19:31:58
Moscow, an ally of Bamako, vetoed Wednesday a UN Security Council Resolution extending sanctions against Malians threatening peace in the country, which the Malian junta called for the lifting.
The Resolution which planned to extend for one year the sanctions regime put in place in 2017 against individuals endangering the 2015 peace agreement, as well as the committee of experts responsible for monitoring them, won 13 votes in in favour, one abstention (China) and one vote against (Russia).
Russia agreed to extend the sanctions, but only one last time, and above all wanted to dissolve the committee of experts whose objectivity it disputes with Bamako. Its Resolution to this effect was rejected, with one vote for, one against and 13 abstentions.
The latest report by the committee of experts published last week questioned in particular the violence against women perpetrated in a “systematic and organized” way by the Malian armed forces and their “foreign security partners”, presumed to be members of the Russian group. Wagner.
This sanctions regime (freeze of assets or travel ban) had been put in place in 2017 and concerned eight individuals, in particular leaders of groups signatories to the 2015 peace agreement accused of putting it in danger.
These sanctions had been demanded by the Malian government at the time, but the junta in power today is calling for them to be lifted.
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