The U.N. Security Council decided on Wednesday to continue the peacekeeping deployment there despite denouncing Mali’s military rulers for employing mercenaries who violate human rights and other humanitarian norms.
The council also expressed “grave worry” over the nation of West Africa’s deteriorating political and security situation.
The French-drafted resolution that extends the mission’s mandate until June 30, 2023 with its current cap of 13,289 military personnel and 1,920 international police received no votes from Russia or China.
Since 2012’s rebellion, which led mutinous soldiers to depose the president, Mali has been in chaos. The resulting power vacuum eventually sparked an Islamic uprising and a French-led war that drove the jihadists from power in 2013.
But insurgents remain active and extremist groups affiliated with al-Qaida and the Islamic State group have moved from the arid north to more populated central Mali since 2015, stoking animosity and violence between ethnic groups in the region.
Mali´s current ruling junta, which seized power in August 2020, has grown closer to Russia as Moscow has looked to build alliances and gain sway in Africa.
The junta has hired mercenaries from Russia´s Wagner Group, which has been accused by the European Union and human rights groups of violating human rights and international humanitarian law. The Kremlin denies any connection to the company, but Western analysts call it a tool of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
After Wednesday´s vote, France´s U.N. ambassador, Nicolas De Riviere, said violations of human rights and humanitarian law by terrorist groups as well as Malian armed forces accompanied by members of the Wagner Group “must stop.”
Warning that insecurity in Mali is rising, he said the U.N. mission must be given access to areas where alleged violations are committed to fulfill its mandate and publish quarterly human rights reports as the resolution demands. He said that “those responsible for violations must be brought to justice.”
