The Swiss NGO Appel de Genève is now banned in Mali. A decision taken by the Malian authorities of transition Thursday, December 15. We only learn that now.
This ban on practicing comes in a context of strengthening, by Bamako, of the control of the financing and activities of NGOs, after the announcement of the ban, in Mali, of associative activities financed or supported by the French State. However, the ban on the Swiss NGO is not, a priori, linked to this shock measure announced almost a month ago. The concomitance obviously attracts attention, but these are ” illicit activities which are invoked by Bamako.
The order prohibiting the Swiss NGO Appel de Genève is signed by the Malian Minister of Territorial Administration and government spokesperson, Colonel Abdoulaye Maïga.
This document, dated November 15, does not invoke any of the official texts concerning the recent banning of organizations supported by France. In his case, these are illicit activities “, without further details, which officially justify this ban on practicing in Mali.
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Among the documents cited in the decree are two letters dating from October: an exchange between the Malian ministry and the Swiss NGO which, according to sources contacted by RFI, concerns the visit of a delegation of former rebels of the Coordination of Movements of Azawad (CMA) in Geneva.
A visit that took place two and a half months ago
Geneva Call is an organization specializing in respect for the protection of civilians by non-state armed groups. As such, she invited representatives of the CMA to Geneva for the signing, on September 30, of an agreement on respect for humanitarian law and more particularly on the protection of health personnel.
The ex-rebels of northern Mali and the authorities of Bamako have been reconciled, on paper, since the signing of the 2015 peace agreement, but their relations – never simple – have notoriously deteriorated since the start of the Transition. Mali, after the military coup of August 2020. Today, mistrust prevails very openly.
The links of the Swiss NGO with the CMA, initiated in 2018, were they perceived as a form of interference or even an attack on national sovereignty, by the transitional government? Should the reason for this ban be sought elsewhere?
►Also read : In Mali, the ex-rebels of the CMA want an “emergency meeting” on the peace agreement of Algiers
Asked by RFI, neither the Malian Ministry of Territorial Administration nor the Swiss NGO wished to provide details at this stage.
In a press release, published this Saturday, December 17, the NGO Appel de Genève soberly indicates that ” acknowledges with regret of the Malian decision and that it therefore suspends its activities in Mali. The Swiss NGO claims to have always acted ” it’s clear ” and ” in strict accordance with the international obligations of States. »