Malian Colonel’s Arrest Part of Effort to Silence Junta Critics

ADF STAFF

Col. Alpha Yaya Sangaré flashed a proud smile in front of a roomful of people at the Alioune Blondin Beye Peacekeeping School in Bamako, Mali, on February 24. The occasion was a signing event for his new book, “Mali: The Challenge of Terrorism in Africa.”

However, once the ruling military junta discovered portions of the book that criticized their tactics and abuses against civilians, they issued a news release on March 1 to denounce it.

“Certain paragraphs of this book carry alleged serious incriminations of violation of human rights by the FAMa (the Malian military) with the complicity of the military hierarchy, and sabotage against the state of Mali,” the statement read, also promising that Sangaré “will be subject to the regulations in force.”

Late on March 2, unidentified men in civilian clothes took Sangaré from his home in Bamako and drove off with him in a vehicle without a license plate, a military source told Agence France-Presse.

“It was certainly outside the normal process of justice,” Radio France Internationale correspondent Serge Daniel said in a video interview.

Sangaré’s 400-page book, which was published in December 2023, cited allegations made by human rights groups about the Malian military.

“Since 2016, the FDS [Defense and Security Forces] have engaged in abuses against people accused of being part of terrorist groups,” he wrote, adding that army personnel committed the abuses “with the complicity of the military hierarchy.”

Human Rights Watch Senior Sahel Researcher Ilaria Allegrozzi decried the junta’s increasing crackdown on dissent, political opposition and the media.

“Mali’s military has responded to allegations of serious abuses by going after the whistleblower instead of addressing the abuses themselves,” she said on her organization’s website. “The authorities should immediately announce where Colonel Sangaré is being held and safely release him.”

Mali has been battling multiple insurgencies since 2012, as armed groups associated with al-Qaida and the Islamic State group have terrorized the country and expanded throughout the central Sahel.

The United Nations and several international rights groups have accused Malian troops and their Russian mercenary partners of war crimes in their fight against Islamist insurgents, including summary executions, torture, human rights abuses, rape and theft.

The deadliest massacre in more than a decade took place in the central Malian village of Moura in March 2022, when more than 500 civilians were executed. In a report released in May 2022, the U.N. accused the Malian army and “foreign” fighters later identified as Russian Wagner Group mercenaries of perpetrating the killings.

Several senior army officers and transition ministers attended Sangaré’s book-signing, including Sangaré’s friend, Col. Abdoulaye Maïga, who is Mali’s minister of state for Territorial Administration and a government spokesperson.

Hours before Sangaré’s extrajudicial arrest, the government sent out another news release to clarify that Maïga and the army officers were at the event “privately and for social reasons” when they “discovered the incriminated work in the room.”

While Sangaré has not been seen or heard from since his disappearance, Allegrozzi expressed concern for his well-being and called for whistleblower protections in Mali.

“Colonel Sangaré took a bold step by choosing not to remain silent in the face of human rights abuses,” she said. “This case highlights the need for the government to protect those who publicly disclose wrongdoings.”