Amnesty International welcomes the UN report on Moura and calls on the ICC to take up the case.
Amnesty International welcomes the UN report accusing the Malian army and "foreign" fighters of executing at least 500 people in March 2022 during an anti-jihadist operation in Moura, central Mali.
The Malian army and foreign fighters executed at least 500 people during an anti-jihadist operation in Mali in March 2022, according to a much-anticipated UN report released on Friday.
“ The Moura incident is the most violent case against civilians since the beginning of this conflict,” notes Ousmane Diallo, researcher at Amnesty's regional office in Dakar, adding that “the Moura incident potentially involves crimes of war and crimes against humanity."
The figures from the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) represent the worst atrocity the Sahel country has seen since the eruption of a jihadist insurgency in 2012.
It is also the most damning document against the Malian armed forces and their foreign allies.
Their nationality is not explicitly identified in the report, although Mali has brought in Russians whom Western countries and others consider Wagner mercenaries.
Describing the events that took place in the central town of Moura between March 27 and 31, 2022, the OHCHR said it had "reasonable grounds to believe that at least 500 people were killed in violation of the norms , norms, rules and/or principles of international law. ”
The victims were "executed by the FAMa (Malian Armed Forces) and foreign military personnel" who had full control over the area, he said.
The Malian authorities did not react publicly to the UN report, but the General Staff refuted these accusations last year.
In Ghana serious economic crisis International Monetary Fund (IMF) plans $3 billion aid package
Ghana, which is going through a serious economic crisis, has provided sufficient guarantees for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to approve an aid plan in its favor, the Washington-based financial institution announced in a statement on Friday.
Weakened in particular by the repercussions of the war in Ukraine, Ghana had resolved to appeal to the IMF and had concluded in December with the institution a preliminary agreement to obtain 3 billion dollars in loans spread over three years and conditional on the implementation of economic reforms.
However, the country had to provide guarantees to the IMF on the sustainability of its debt in order to move on to the final stage, namely the examination of the aid plan by the Fund's board of directors with a view to formal approval.
In its press release on Friday, the IMF ruled that the conditions were now met, welcoming the recent promise made by Ghana's creditor countries, led by France and China , to open negotiations for a restructuring of its debt.
This commitment "provides the necessary financing guarantees for the IMF board of directors to consider" approving the aid plan, said the Fund's managing director, Kristalina Georgieva, quoted in the press release.
A major producer of cocoa and gold, Ghana also has gas and oil reserves, but its debt burden has exploded, as in other sub-Saharan African countries, under the impact of the Covid pandemic. -19 and the Ukrainian conflict.
This crisis, the most serious that the country has known for decades, forced President Nana Akufo-Addo to reconsider his past positions by turning to the IMF, in order to ward off the specter of a payment default evoked by some economists.
Demonstration against a possible 3rd term of President Macky Sall Giant rally in Dakar Senegal capital
Giant rally in Dakar, to put pressure on the Senegalese leader against his candidacy for a third term.
Thousands of people demonstrated in Dakar on Friday against a third term not authorized by the Constitution for President Macky Sall, at a time when the latter has not yet declared whether or not he will be a candidate in the presidential election scheduled for February 2024.
Thousands of people demonstrated in Dakar, the Senegalese capital, on Friday against President Macky Sall's refusal to rule out a controversial third term.
"We are here to say no to the third candidacy of the current President of the Republic of Senegal, Macky Sall, and at the same time we are here to validate that (of the leader of the opposition) Ousmane Sonko " , has told EFE Cheick Mbaye (33), a young Senegalese, at the start of the demonstration in Place de la Nation, in the capital.
"Even if the gendarmes and the police are stepping on corpses, Sonko will be a candidate for the Republic of Senegal because, for the moment, he is the only hope, the only solution for the Senegalese," added Mr. Mbaye .
For this protester, "Sall betrayed the youth" and "subjugated the Senegalese population" by using "the gendarmerie, the police and the justice system" .
The demonstration was convened by F24, a platform bringing together more than 130 organizations and created in mid-April to denounce a possible third candidacy of Mr. Sall, the release of political detainees and the creation of optimal conditions for the holding of presidential elections. next year, among others.
Although Mr. Sall (in power since 2012) has not yet confirmed whether he will be a candidate in these elections, Aliou Sané, coordinator of Senegal's main citizens' movement, Y'en a marre, and member of the F24, said to EFE: " We can't wait for him to show up to fight us. We have to tell him that he has no right to do it and that he shouldn't do it. "
The Constitution of the Republic of Senegal states that the president is elected for a five-year term and that "no one may serve more than two consecutive terms", which rules out Sall's candidacy in 2024 as he was re-elected in 2019.
In addition to the uncertainty and tension generated in the country by Sall's possible candidacy, there is what the opposition considers to be "a programmed liquidation campaign" against the main opposition leader through various legal proceedings (one for defamation and another for alleged rape) initiated in recent months, which could eliminate him from the presidential race.
Added to this are the recent complaints by activists and human rights organizations against the detention of opponents and journalists , and against the excessive use of police force, as has happened on May 9 during clashes between young people and the gendarmerie in which a teenager died, or the 14 deaths during the demonstrations of March 2021, 12 of which were caused by fire from the security forces.
This is the first of a series of protests planned for the coming days in Senegal.
Sonko's party, the Patriots of Senegal for Work, Ethics and Fraternity (PASTEF), announced a sit-in outside the presidential palace on Monday May 15, and the main opposition coalition, Yewwi Askan Wi ( Free the people), a demonstration on May 19.
Polling stations opened on Saturday for Mauritania's legislative and local elections
Mauritania's the first since President Mohamed Ould Ghazouani came to power in 2019.
In Nouakchott, lines of voters formed from the start of the ballot in the centers set up in the various schools and administrations in the midst of an important security device, as noted by EFE.
The votes are complicated because citizens must cast six different and simultaneous votes. They must elect the deputies of the National Assembly (the only chamber of Parliament), the municipal and regional councillors, those of the mixed national list, those of the national list of young people and of the national list reserved for women.
More than 1.7 million people will elect among the candidates of 25 political parties who will compete for 176 seats in Parliament, and seats in the 238 municipalities and 13 regional councils.
Observers see these elections as a barometer to gauge the popularity of the Mauritanian president who will most likely be presented for the next presidency in 2024.
These elections were marked by unprecedented divisions within the Insaf party following the discontent of its members aroused by the nomination movement in the different regions of the country.
This led several members of the formation to present lists with other parties, but opting for majority formations so as not to question their support for the president.
Although they chose majority parties, these candidates were criticized by the president's inner circle who sent messages calling for support for "the president's party".
Messages sent, for example, by Prime Minister Mohamed Bilal and the wife of President Mariem Fadel Dah, who had participated in certain activities related to Insaf's electoral campaign in Nouakchott and other regions.
The results will be announced tomorrow, Sunday, according to the independent electoral commission in charge of the elections. A second round is scheduled for the 27th hand.
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