More foreign media outlets banned; enforced disappearances or detention of critical voices

GENERAL

Mali’s civic space is rated as “repressed” by the CIVICUS Monitor, which is the second-worst rating for a country. In July 2024, Mali was added to CIVICUS’ watchlist of countries experiencing a rapid decline in civic freedoms as the junta continues to crack down on peaceful dissent, the political opposition and the media.

Four years after taking power, the military regime in Bamako has yet to provide a clear timeline for the organisation of the elections and the transition to civilian rule. Islamist groups’ violence have almost doubled since 2021. The economic and security situations continued to deteriorate. Most Malians live under constant threat for their safety, as this report of the Network of African Investigative Reporters and Editors illustrates.

Junta re-authorises political activities, opponents remain in prison

On 10th July 2024, the military junta announced it would allow political parties and political associations to resume their activities, which it had suspended three months earlier. According to military authorities, the suspension aimed “to contain all the threats of public disorder that were hanging over the national Inter-Malian Dialogue (for Peace and National Reconciliation (IMD))” which was held from 13th April to 10th May 2024. This ‘dialogue’ led to the recommendation to extend the transitional period by two to five years, while also proposing the amendment of article 9 of the transitional charter so as to allow President Assimi Goïta to stand in the upcoming presidential election.

On 12th November 2024, a court rejected a request for the release of 11 military junta critics who were arrested in June for “plotting against the legal authorities”. As reported previously on the Monitor, members of the main opposition platform Plateforme d’opposition de la Déclaration du 31 mars (31 March Declaration Opposition Platform), a coalition of political opposition parties mobilised for a return to the constitutional order, were accused of organising a clandestine meeting on 20th June 2024, in violation of the ban on political activities, which is now lifted. On 9th September 2024, the examining magistrate in charge of the case had ordered their release under judicial supervision. The prosecutor appealed the decision and the Court of Appeal rejected the requests for provisional release. Mahamadou Konaté, head of the pool of defence lawyers, denounced the instrumentalisation of justice.

Politician arrested for criticising Burkina Faso’s military junta

On 13th November 2024, Malian political figure Issa Kaou N’Djim was arrested in Bamako for comments made during a television show. He is accused of having made “serious comments” on the military transitional authorities in Burkina Faso during a programme on Malian television station Joliba TV News on 10th November 2024. According to the Burkina Faso media regulator, the High Council for Communication (CSC), these remarks were designed “to discredit our authorities, claiming, without any proof, that the case of the umpteenth attempt to destabilise Burkina Faso is nothing but a fabrication”. Since July 2024, the military juntas of Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso are part of the Alliance of Sahel States (ASS), a new confederation formed after the three countries left the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

EXPRESSION

More international media outlets suspended

On 23rd August 2024, Mali’s High Authority for Communication (HAC), the national media regulator, suspended broadcasts by French private news channel LCI for a period of two months, claiming "false accusations" were made against the Malian army and its Russian allies during a broadcast. The HAC in particular objected to comments made by military specialist Colonel Michel Goya during the TV programme ‘Wagner Decimated in Mali: the Hand of Kyiv’ that, according to HAC, are tantamount to ‘apology for terrorism’ and ‘incitement to destabilisation’.

On 5th September 2024, the HAC suspended French-language channel TV5 Monde for a period of three months in connection with its coverage of a military drone bombing in northern Mali, according to the broadcaster. The HAC criticizes a lack of 'balance' in a news report. TV5 Monde had reported on the deaths of at least 15 civilians in drone strikes in the northern town of Tinzaouatene without considering the Malian army's perspective.

On 3rd November 2024, the Prime Minister Choguel Maiga was recorded saying that every morning he spends an hour and a half reading the press, and in particular listening to foreign radio stations such as Radio France Internationale (RFI), the BBC Africa and Voice of America (VOA), which are banned in Mali. According to Maiga, this would serve to counter foreign manipulation and gather information on his own country. Abdoulaye Kone, a special adviser to the Prime Minister, posted a message on social networks explaining that the purpose of consuming the banned programmes is to find out about and “counter all the information being dumped on the people of Mali, the ESA and Africa by foreign radio stations (RFI, VOA, BBC, Radio Canada, etc.) in order to manipulate people”.

As reported previously on the Monitor, broadcasters RFI and France 24 have been suspended since 2022 for allegations on human rights abuses committed by the Malian Armed Forces.

Investigations against French journalist

On 25th September 2024, prosecutors in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso issued similar statements announcing the launch of investigations of the French journalist and researcher Wassim Nasr, related to what they call “comments amounting to acts of publicity and blatant support for terrorists and the actions of terrorists operating in the Sahel”. Nasr, as part of his work for the French broadcaster France 24, had given a detailed analysis of the jihadi attack in Bamako on 17th September 2024 that killed between 50 and 70 people. The journalist posted on his Twitter account: “A thought for the Sahelian colleagues & those who experience the arbitrariness of these regimes first hand”. The prosecutors accuse him of having been in contact with the attackers and of supporting them.

Activist remains in prison

Economist, activist and university professor Etienne Fakaba Sissoko remained in prison. As reported previously on the Monitor, Fakaba Sissoko was sentenced to two years in prison, of which one year was suspended, for ‘defamation’, ‘damaging the state’s reputation’ and ‘distribution of fake news’. He was arrested on 25th March 2024 following the publication of his book ‘Propaganda, Agitation and Harassment – Government Communication during the Transition’ in December 2023, which criticised the alleged use of propaganda in the Malian government’s public information campaign. He filed a request for release for health reasons.

On 14th October 2024, the Bamako Court of Appeal ruled that Etienne Fakaba Sissoko’s request for release was admissible and ordered his provisional release pending his appeal trial on 11th November 2024. However, this decision was immediately suspended following a “cassation” appeal lodged by the public prosecutor. The representative of the public prosecutor's office argued against the release, invoking the seriousness of the accusations and the disturbance to public order.

PEACEFUL ASSEMBLY

Protest of gold miners dispersed with tear gas

ACLED reported that on 22nd August 2024, miners, including women, protested in the village of Kofoulate in the Kayes region against their eviction from an artisanal gold mine site by the Malian Armed Forces. Security forces reportedly dispersed the crowd by firing tear gas.

ASSOCIATION

End of Swedish aid for development

On 7th August 2024, the Swedish Minister for International Development, Cooperation and Trade, Johan Forssell, announced that the Swedish government would discontinue aid to Mali due to its links with Russia. The decommissioning of Sweden’s embassy in Bamako is expected to be fully completed by the end of 2024. For the period 2021-2025, Sweden has supported Mali in several development projects amounting to $190 million.

Aid workers at risk

In Mali, 151 cases of violence against aid workers were recorded in 2024. According to the Aid Worker Security Database, two staff members of an international NGO were killed by unknown armed men in Taboye town, Gao.

Trade unionist disappeared, arrested, charged

On 25th October 2024, the general secretary of the prison guards’ union, Daouda Konaté, mysteriously disappeared in the heart of Bamako. Another member of the union section, Famoussa Fomba, also disappeared on the same day. The Centrale Démocratique des Travailleurs du Mali (CDTM) issued a press release on 26th October 2024, denouncing the disappearance of their trade union members and calling on the competent authorities to mobilise all necessary means to find them.

In months prior to Konaté’s disappearance, the trade unionist had been vocal, in the national media and on social networks, denouncing the inequalities in pay conditions between those working in prison and other members of the Malian defence and security forces, in addition to criticising the precarious conditions in which prison guards work, in particular in the context of prison overcrowding at the Bamako Central Prison.

On 29th October 2024, a voice recording attributed to Daouda Konaté leaked onto social networks, in which a voice that appears to be Konaté’s can be heard. The recording denounces the ‘poor management of the country’ and calls for the destabilisation of power. While the authorities confirmed the opening of an investigation by the cybercrime prosecutor, those close to him categorically refuted the authenticity of the recording, citing digital manipulation.

After being missing for five days, on 30th October 2024, Douada Konaté appeared before an examining magistrate, who charged him with ‘undermining state security’ and ‘undermining state credibility’.

According to Jeune Afrique, several mysterious disappearances of dissenting voices occurred in 2024. On 23rd October 2024, Boubou Cissé, president of the Niamana market, was abducted following a call for a strike to protest against the authorities’ decision to close these markets and relocate them outside the capital. According to information received by RFI, he was detained by State Security. He was released and reappeared two days later.

Suspended prison sentence for participation in an unauthorised protest

On 12th July 2024, armed men forced Youssouf Daba Diawara - former coordinator of the Coordination of Movements, Friends and Sympathizers of Imam Mahmoud Dicko (CMAS), an association dissolved by the transitional authorities in March 2024 - out of his car in Bamako and took him to the Criminal Investigations Brigade of the Gendarmerie. He was brought before a judge on 15th July 2024 and charged with “opposing legitimate authority” for participating in an unauthorised protest on 7th June 2024 against the power outages and increasing inflation. On 5th September 2024, the court denied a request for provisional release filed by his lawyers. On 3rd October 2024, Daba Diawara was sentenced to a two-month suspended prison sentence and released on 5th October 2024.

LGBTQI+

Mali criminalises same-sex relations

On 31st October 2024, Mali’s National Transitional Council adopted a draft penal code which criminalises same-sex relations. Justice Minister Mamadou Kassogue, who announced the new law, previously condemned homosexuality as “unnatural”. He explained that from now on “anyone who indulges in this practice, or promotes or condones it, will be prosecuted", adding "We will not accept our customs and values being violated by people from elsewhere”. The details – including the provisions and penalties – are yet to be released.

While same-sex sexual conduct was not previously illegal in Mali, vague provisions in the penal code—such as Article 225 penalising “public indecency”—have often been used to persecute LGBTQI+ people.