Mali crisis has led to human rights violations, says UN report

A new United Nations report says that the crisis in Mali has led to various human rights violations, including extrajudicial killings, rape and torture, both in the North, and in the area under government control, UN spokesman Martin Nesirky told reporters here Friday.

The report by the Office for the High Commissioner for Human Rights (HCHR), which was requested by the UN Human Rights Council, presents the findings of a human rights mission deployed to Mali, Burkina Faso, Mauritania and Niger from November 11 to 20, 2012, Nesirky said at a daily news briefing here.

"In Northern Mali, serious human rights violations have been taking place since January of last year, including summary executions and extra-judicial killings," he said, citing the new report. "Human rights experts also found that civilians in the North suffered from degrading treatments by extremist groups, based on an extreme interpretation of Sharia."

"The human rights team also highlighted human rights violations in territories under the control of the Malian government, including the extrajudicial killings of several soldiers of the Malian army and at least 21 cases of forced disappearances," he said.

The HCHR Office called on all parties to abide by international human rights and humanitarian law standards and for the initiation of a reconciliation process, he said. "The Office also urges the Malian army and its supporters to take extreme care not to carry out further reprisals as and when they retake territory in the North."

The Malian government forces are fighting armed rebels who seized the northern part of the country after a military coup in March 2012.

(2013-01-19/globaltimes)