It has been a year, this Monday, March 27, 2023, since the Moura massacre took place. This village, in the Mopti region, in central Mali, was the scene of an anti-terrorist operation by the Malian army and its Russian auxiliaries. Operation which lasted five days and during which several hundred people were killed. Survivors also reported acts of torture and rape. But twelve months later, the conclusions of the investigations promised by the Malian military justice, as by the United Nations Mission in the country, have still not been published.
The prosecutor of the military court of the region of Mopti had promised, in a press release dated April 6, 2022, that the results of the “ in-depth investigations carried out by the Malian gendarmerie would be made public, for “ make all the light ” on the “ allegations of abuse » brought against the Malian army and its Russian auxiliaries.
Even before the opening of this procedure, the staff of the armies of Mali had judged ” unfounded “charges aimed at” tarnish the image of the Fama (Malian Armed Forces), praised for their professionalism “.
The United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (Minusma) also conducted its own investigation. Despite multiple requests, its specialists from the human rights section were never authorized by the Malian transitional authorities to go to the scene. But they were able to collect numerous testimonies and carry out cross-checks.
However, the expected report has still not been published either. And this while the United Nations Human Rights Council itself demanded, last January, an independent investigation into the “ possible crimes of the Malian army and the Wagner group », in particular during the military operation of Moura.
An operation which was carried out on a market day, which extended over five days and during which the Malian army claims to have “ neutralized 203 people, all jihadists.
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The testimonies of survivors, collected and published since by numerous media and human rights organizations, report 200 to more than 500 dead, including children, the vast majority of them civilians. Acts of torture – people forced to lie down for hours in direct sunlight, to transport the bodies of the dead to pits – and dozens of rapes have also been reported. The witnesses say that it was the Russian auxiliaries of the Malian army who directed the operations.
In a video released last June, Hamadoun Kouffathe head of the Katiba Macina of Jnim – Support Group for Islam and Muslims, linked to al-Qaeda – said that only about thirty of his fighters were present in Moura during the army operation and had specifically accused the Malian soldiers and their Russian auxiliaries, referred to as Wagner, of having killed hundreds of civilians.
The village of Moura is a usual supply point for the Katiba Macina jihadists, who have been imposing their rules on the inhabitants for several years.