Civil groups file case against Mali over Wagner Group abuses

Civil rights groups say Mali is responsible for abuses committed by Russian mercenaries.

Mali is facing charges of violating its citizens human rights over the conduct of its armed forces and that of the Russian mercenary Wagner Group.

Civil society organisations argue that authorities in the West African nation are responsible for abuses committed in the country and for failing to investigate or sanction those responsible, according to a case filed before the African Union's human rights court on Monday.

The case was brought by three civil society groups: TRIAL International, The Pan African Lawyers Union and the International Federation for Human Rights.

On the docket at the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights (ACtHPR), it involves what the groups said in a joint statement were "serious human rights violations allegedly committed against civilians in Mali in 2022."

After turning its back on former colonial power France, in 2021 Mali's junta called on Russia and the Wagner Group for help battling jihadist militants and Tuareg separatists.

Wagner helped the army recapture key strongholds in the north but did little to improve overall security. The Russian forces have been accused of numerous abuses against civilians.

United Nations rights investigators say Malian troops and foreign forces — believed to be Wagner — were behind the massacre of at least 500 people in the town of Moura in March 2022.