Mali is using
radio propaganda, urging “blacks” to hunt down “whites”
Free countries
must step forward and put a brake on the Malian Army’s killing of innocent
Tuareg civilians. This will
involve putting pressure on France to remove the Malian army from the
north.
There have been alarming
reports of increased Malian army atrocities and executions of Tuareg civilians
since the French began their intervention in Mali on January 11, 2013. The French led the Malian army into the
northern regions supposedly to fight the Islamists. But many Malian army commanders and government elites have
been supporting the Islamists and their narco-traffick for the past
decade. Instead of arresting the
Islamists, the Malian army is seeking out and killing innocent Tuareg civilians
and others.
France has the major
responsibility for this, because many analysts predicted this would
happen.
Countries that
are backing France in the intervention should be aware that they, too, hold
responsibility for allowing the Malian army into the north to kill Tuareg nomads
and villagers with impunity. The blood of innocent men, women, and children is on
their hands. They must make the
decision to send the Malian army back to Bamako where they can be reformed, and
begin to bring order to Bamako, where there has been renewed violence between
army factions this past week.
Today information
is circulating that the Malian army has most recently massacred upwards of 30
Tuareg civilians near the town of Gossi, and 11 other Tuareg civilians were
found killed in Timbuktu. This is
only one of many accounts over the past year of the Malian army’s massacres of
innocent nomads and villagers in the north. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have issued
official reports detailing eyewitness accounts. Warnings have gone out many times about the dangers of
bringing the Malian army into the north.
Free countries
should be on high alert that, as of this week, the Malian army is alleged to be
using the local radio station in Timbuktu to urge the “black” citizens of
Timbuktu to report on “light-skinned” people – Tuaregs and Arabs – and tell the
Malian army where to find them.
This is how the genocide began in Rwanda, with the use of local radio
stations urging the Hutu to begin looking for Tutsi. Free countries did nothing until it was too late.
A massive
genocide could suddenly emerge in Mali – and we have already had plenty of
warning. The Tuareg people have
been talking about their fear of genocide for months. Many Tuaregs today have relatives – men, women, and children
– who were tortured, burned, and killed summarily by the Malian army in the
1960s, 1990s, and early 2000s Tuareg rebellions. The mass graves from those massacres still exist, and the
perpetrators have never been punished.
The Tuareg people
have legitimate grievances that need to be addressed, not only by Mali, but
also by the free world. The racist
government and military of Mali has targeted the “light-skinned” peoples of the
north ever since the 1960s independence.
The video below shows Human Rights Watch investigators who spent some
time in Sevare, Konna, and other places in Mali, to document the Malian Army’s
summary executions. There are graphic scenes in the film, including the remains
of innocent civilians who were shot by the army and thrown into a well, and the
remains of a 14-year old boy who was shot and burned on the floor of a
building. A Malian army officer says that everyone is suspect, and anyone can
be arrested. The Malian army does not admit that their soldiers have been
killing innocent civilians, although Human Rights Watch interviewed a number of
witnesses who gave testimony about the details of these killings. The film
gives an idea of how difficult it is to do this kind of work. It's difficult to
find witnesses, because the army is watching them. It's difficult to talk with
the army, because they refuse to talk about it. It's difficult to look at the
remains and photograph them.
The article below is a true story written by Tuareg journalist Intagrist
El Ansari. The story details the
injustices suffered by six Tuareg men who
were trying to flee Mali with their families. The Malian army stopped them and
took the men outside of town to execute them. A French helicopter pilot saw it,
and hovered closely over the scene; the Malian army had to let them go.
Intagrist El
Ansari. Un hélico les sauve de la
mort. La Libre Belgique, 15/02/2013
http://www.lalibre.be/actu/international/article/797203/un-helico-les-sauve-de-la-mort.html
(original story is in French)
Six Tuaregs tell
how they escaped a summary execution
By Intagrist El Ansari, Correspondant in Mauritania
Like fifteen thousand newcomers to the refugee camp at M'béra, in Mauritania, two Tuareg men, Ali and Ousmane, had to leave their nomad camp, which is located at a place called Taqinbawt (45 km west of Timbuktu). They are brothers, shepherds, and nomads from a Tuareg tribe claiming Sharifian descent. They lived in a camp of two hundred people and had never before gone into exile, "even during the 1990s rebellion (of the Tuaregs)," when the entire area was emptied of its inhabitants. At that time, their community of religious clerics had determined at all costs to remain in their pasture space, between the arms of the Niger River and a desert zone further north, which is habitable in the dry season.
Ousmane Ag Mohamedoun, the older brother, explains: "We are committed to peace. It's been a year now that we have lived in a very precarious situation. So when we saw that our area was emptied of its inhabitants and we heard that the Malian army had returned to the region targeting people with "fair complexions" (Tuaregs and Moors, who are numerous among the jihadists), killing people before throwing them into wells, we realized that we no longer had any choice but to leave.”
In the back of a truck
On January 25th, the men of the camp found a truck on the road from Timbuktu to Léré and they jumped at the chance to remove their last families to Mauritania; the women and children cannot go such a long distance on foot. At the refugee camp, they would be able to find those who had already left. They wanted to leave "before it is too late or the roads close completely," explains Ali Ag Mohamedoun, 35, the youngest. He added sadly: "We have entrusted our livestock to a shepherd who will lead them to the Mauritanian border; it will take several weeks."
The whole camp boarded the transport truck. Nomads huddled in the back were heading westward, those in front were headed toward Niafunké, slightly south – a route that’s less sandy for this heavily-laden truck. They arrived the next day, Saturday, January 26 at Léré, where the Malian army had just arrived from Diabali. Although the truck was carrying mostly women and children, it was stopped in the center of town by the military.
"Two soldiers boarded the truck to search our things and point their weapons at the women to intimidate us," said Ali. The Malian soldiers ordered the six adult men off the truck. "They lined us up, pointing their rifles at us. There was also a vehicle armed with a mortar facing us. They told us to raise our hands and keep our heads down," says Ousmane, the elder. "We were being watched by the local residents, who were mostly ethnic Songhay (Editor's note: the Songhay are traditional enemies of the Tuareg in the region). “They all shouted: ‘Kill them,’ even though we did not know them" he says, still trembling at the memory.
Ethnic tensions are very high in the region, exacerbated by poverty, underdevelopment and ignorance of local history, which has seen different hegemonic orders emerge in different eras; each ethnic group - Tuareg and Songhay – has had its time of dominance in the region of contact between the Maghreb and sub-Saharan Africa. The Songhay Ganda Koy militia, who had attacked civilians during the Tuareg rebellion of 1990, had returned to service. The Ganda Koy militia attacked the Tuaregs and Moors at Timbuktu, Goundam, and Léré, ransacking houses and shops belonging to those of "fair complexions" accused of being close to the Tuareg rebels and jihadists who had taken control of North Mali. An overwhelming majority of Tuaregs and Moors, particularly traditional leaders, reject religious radicalism, however, and do not associate themselves with the speech and attitude of the rebel Tuaregs.
While the inhabitants of Léré cheered, Ousmane, Ali and their companions were mistreated and "driven out of the city," before the eyes of their wives and children, who were totally helpless.
"Those who are stronger than you will attack you and kill you without scruple," exclaimed Ali Ag Mohamedoun. "Once out of the city, the Malian soldiers pulled off our head coverings, and made us remove our tunics. We suffered all sorts of intimidation and humiliation," he said with difficulty. "From nine in the morning until two in the afternoon."
"Their high commander left, ordering his men to watch us. Everyone of us had a gun pointed at his forehead. They told us: 'You thought you were going to escape. I recognize you, you are with the Islamists, with rebels. You’ll see what’s going to happen to you today," says Ousmane.
This happened while the Malian and French armies were en route to Timbuktu. "Suddenly, we saw a helicopter flying above us, very close to our heads, twirling on all sides. The soldiers consulted with each other. One of their leaders left in a vehicle, and returned a few minutes later accompanied by their high commander and other vehicles filled with soldiers. The superior officer then ordered his men to take us back to town and liberate us,” said Ousmane. "The grace of God was with us that day. However, they had all intentions of executing us, and we had lost all hope of remaining alive." According to these Tuaregs, the helicopter "must have been French because we had passed them when we were entering the city and they were leaving Léré."
Upon return to their frightened families, the six men found that their luggage had been stolen or vandalized. "But the important thing was to be alive."
