Mali army, Russian allies tortured civilians, HRW says

Human Rights Watch accused Mali's armed forces and Russian paramilitaries on Thursday of new atrocities against civilians in central Mali, including torture in detention and an apparent drone strike that witnesses said killed eight men.

The rights group said Mali's army and members of Russia's Africa Corps held detainees in a metal shipping container at an army base in Sevare, in the central Mopti region, between May and August. HRW said former detainees described overcrowding, lack of sanitation and ventilation, limited food and torture.

One former detainee told HRW that the number of people inside the container rose from 27 to more than 70. Other former detainees described near-drowning, electric shocks, beatings and burns. HRW said the men reported that several people died in the container after torture.

HRW also described an apparent drone strike on September 16 on the village of Gueledie, also in Mopti. Witnesses interviewed by the group said villagers had gathered near a tree where a man was providing internet access via Starlink. They said the strike killed eight men and injured six others. Witnesses said an Al-Qaeda-linked JNIM base was in the town but that JNIM fighters were not among the casualties.

HRW said it sent letters to the Malian and Russian defence ministers in early October but received no response.

Mali has faced a security crisis since 2012 involving jihadist groups, armed separatists, criminal gangs, the army and Russian allies. The junta that took power in coups in 2020 and 2021 has moved closer to Russia after turning away from France.