For more than a decade, conflict in Mali has worsened and general context is defined by the political instability, terrorist acts by Islamist armed groups particularly in the northern and central parts of the country, counterterrorism abuses by Malian forces and the appearance of private military security contractor, the Wagner Group, as well as the ongoing intercommunal violence along ethnic lines. The instability in Mali impacts the regional dynamics and has consequences in the dissemination of violent extremism in Sahel. Human rights violations and attacks on civilians continued to be committed by all actors involved in the armed conflict. These serious human rights violations are committed with full impunity since efforts towards justice and reparations are at standstill. Mali’s Truth Justice and Reconciliation Commission had stopped receiving testimonies since December 2022 and is currently working on putting into place a reparations organ to kick-start reparations measures with victims identified[1]. This political context aggravated the existing humanitarian crisis with 8.8 million people being in need, more than 422 000 are displaced and 2.3 million Malians need food assistance as of April 2023[2]. Conflict-related sexual violence – including rape, gang rape, forced marriage, abduction and other forms of sexual assault – has become an entrenched practice.
Conflict-related sexual violence is dramatically under-documented[3] due to the insecure context, justified fear of stigmatisation and reprisal, and weaknesses in the national judicial system. Nevertheless, cases of conflict-related sexual violence have been documented, committed by all actors in the armed conflict (jihadist groups, self-defence militias and security forces, and more recently Wagner mercenaries) with absolute impunity. Access to holistic services and justice remains a major challenge for survivors.
In response to the scourge of CRSV (Conflict-Related Sexual Violence) and with the support of UNFPA, 14 one-stop centres/” guichets uniques” across the country had been established, to offer survivors critical medical, psychological, and legal support, with the last one established last year in Timbuktu. These “guichets uniques” have been launched in partnership with the Malian government to ensure the sustainability and durability of the centers. In these centers, specialists such as psychologists, legal experts, social workers and doctors are providing medical care, who will counsel individual and group therapy within authorized structures. In terms of justice and accountability, the Malian CVJR (Truth Justice and Reconciliation Commission) was created in 2014 to start investigations into most serious human rights violations committed in this country, and proposals for reparations. CVJR carried out in-depth investigations from 2015 and stopped receiving testimonies since December 2022. In August 2023, following one of the recommendations from CVJR[4] (Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission) report, the Minister of National Reconciliation announced the nomination of the president and members of the Steering Committee of the Authority for the Management of Reparations (Comité
d’Orientation de l’Autorité de gestion des réparations en faveur des victimes des crises au Mali). The final report of the CVJR (whose mandate ended in December 2021) that was due in 2022 has still not been published until now. To this date, survivors have not yet received any reparations.
Sini Sanuman
Sini Sanuman is a nongovernmental organisation based in Bamako, Mali focusing on the fight against excision/FGM and all other forms of violence against women and children in Mali. in peace and conflict time. They work person-to-person, through large public meetings, sometimes with whole villages and through the mass media. Following the security crisis of 2012, Sini Sanuman expanded its scope to include responding to and preventing other kinds of sexual violence like rape and early marriage.
Website: https://www.stopexcision.net/
Phone number: (223) 2072 90 89
Address: BP:E 4829, Bamako, Mali
Email address: SiniSanuman@yahoo.fr (French only)