The head of the human rights division of the United Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) has been declared persona non-grata by the Malian authorities. Guillaume Andali has been asked to leave the country by 7 February. The government accuses him of bias.
“This measure comes after the destabilising and subversive actions of Mister Andali,” declared Mali’s Foreign Affairs ministry in a communique read on national television on Sunday 5 February.
The Malian authorities claim that Guillaume Ngefa-Atondoko Andali, head of MINUSMA's human rights section, “selected frauds to be the representatives of Malian civil society while ignoring the authorities and national institutions”.
Bamako said that Andali’s bias was quite obvious at the UN’s last gathering on Mali.
The transitional government strongly rejected the claims made by a Malian rights activist invited to speak at the special United Nations Security Council briefing on Mali.
Communiqué N°045 relatif à la décision du Gouvernement de la Transition de déclarer persona non grata, le Directeur de la Division des droits de l’homme de la MINUSMA. pic.twitter.com/7TOMhP25V6
— Ministère des Affaires étrangères du Mali (@MaliMaeci) February 5, 2023
On 27 January, Aminata Cheick Dicko, deputy chairman of Kisal, referred to the alleged human rights violations perpetrated by the Malian Armed Forces (FAMA) and, its military partner, the Wagner group, described as Russian mercenaries.
She added that Wagner’s actions, “could constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity”.
During the video-conference, Dicko urged the Malian authorities to “dissociate” themselves from the Wagner group. She also spoke about rampant terrorism, thousands of internally displaced Malians and food insecurity in the country.
In its statement, Colonel Abdoulaye Maiga, the government spokesperson, said that Andali recruited Dicko “to play” the role of a fraud acting as a representative of the Malian civil society.
He added that Kisal is a foreign organisation which is not recognised by the government and does not have the right to operate in Mali.
Aminata Dicko, however, was invited by Japan who presided over the Security Council in January.
Investigation into atrocities
On 31 January, following the Council’s briefing on Mali, UN experts called for an independent investigation into possible war crimes and crimes against humanity by government forces and the Russian private military contractor, Wagner Group, in Mali.
Since 2021, the experts have received persistent and alarming accounts of horrific executions, mass graves, acts of torture, rape and sexual violence, pillaging, arbitrary detentions and enforced disappearances perpetrated by Malian armed forces and their allies.
The group of independent experts have conveyed their concerns about the allegations to the Malian government directly.
Andali headed the human rights division of the MINUSMA since its creation in 2013. He was nearly expelled six months ago.
Last year, Oliver Salgado, MINUSMA’s spokesperson, was expelled from Mali. As was Joël Meyer, the French ambassador, in 2022 and Hamidou Boly, the ECOWAS representative, in 2021.
