📋 Tender Overview
The Malian junta announced yesterday the end of a peace agreement signed in 2015 with armed separatist groups. Should fighting intensify, it is essential that the warring parties respect international humanitarian law – the laws of war – and protect civilians from the dangers associated with military operations.
In a statement read on national television, Colonel Abdoulaye Maïga, spokesperson for the Malian military government, affirmed the " absolute inapplicability " of this peace agreement due to the " change in posture " of other signatories having committed “ terrorist acts ”, as well as “ hostile acts ” on the part of the Algerian government, the main mediator of the agreement, which the Malian authorities accuse of welcoming suspected “ terrorists ”.
In June 2015, the Malian government and a coalition of armed groups mainly from the Tuareg ethnic group based in northern Mali, called Coordination des Mouvements de l'Azawad (CMA), signed an agreement mediated by the United Nations to restore peace in the country, after three years of clashes. The agreement came after Tuareg rebels launched a violent independence campaign in 2012 against the Malian government, accusing it of marginalizing their region, which they call Azawad, and calling for greater autonomy.
The agreement began to crumble in August 2023 when hostilities resumed between rebels and Malian armed forces, assisted by fighters from the Wagner Group , a military security company with ties to Russia , in northern Mali. Mali. This fighting culminated in December when the government announced that it had regained control of the town of Kidal, a stronghold of the Tuareg rebellion, in the north of the country. Media reports reported civilians, including children, killed in military drone strikes on Kidal, which further forced more than 11,500 people to flee their homes.
Residents told Human Rights Watch they feared being caught between the two camps.
Recent months have seen a surge in attacks by armed Islamist groups across Mali. As UN peacekeepers, deployed to the country in 2013, complete their withdrawal at the junta's request, there are deep concerns over rights monitoring and accountability for abuses by security forces .
The parties to the conflict in Mali must take all necessary measures to minimize harm caused to civilians and put an end to illegal attacks against civilian populations and objects. With or without a peace agreement, the threat to civilians in Mali remains serious.
