{"id":39592,"date":"2018-11-26T12:48:52","date_gmt":"2018-11-26T11:48:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/39592-mali-should-there-be-amnesty-or-not.html"},"modified":"2018-11-26T12:48:52","modified_gmt":"2018-11-26T11:48:52","slug":"mali-should-there-be-amnesty-or-not","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/39592-mali-should-there-be-amnesty-or-not.html","title":{"rendered":"Mali: Should there be amnesty or not?"},"content":{"rendered":"

In Mali, human rights activists are demanding withdrawal of a draft law on \u201cnational understanding\u201d which would grant amnesty to perpetrators of crimes linked to the 2012 rebellion. But the government says it will not back down, and that amnesty will not be available to those who committed the most serious crimes.
<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Nearly 50 Malian organizations are up in arms. At a press conference on November 9 in Bamako, they declared that the \u201cbill on national understanding\u201d is a threat to peace, reconciliation and victims\u2019 rights. The text, which was approved by the government in May, is to go before parliament in mid-December.<\/p>\n

In a communiqu\u00e9 distributed at the press conference, civil society organizations said victims had not been involved in the drafting of the bill and that this \"goes against established transitional justice practice\". \u00a0They say victims must be \u201cfully involved in the creation of norms and mechanisms to respond to their suffering, if these are to have legitimacy\u201d.<\/p>\n

The bill was first announced in President Ibrahim Boubacar Ke\u00efta\u2019s 2018 New Year message, in which he spoke of \"special measures to stop prosecutions or offer amnesty for certain actors in the 2012 armed rebellion\". The bill that civil society is now fighting provides for \"exemption from criminal proceedings initiated or envisaged against persons who committed or were complicit (...) in crimes or offences (...) occurring in the context of events linked to the crisis that began in 2012\". In 38 articles, it specifies that \"war crimes, crimes against humanity, rape and any other crime deemed imprescriptible\" are excluded from the scope of the text. This is in line with President Keita's New Year's message, which said his initiative was \"neither a boost to impunity, nor an admission of weakness, nor a denial of victims' rights\". The text stresses that \"any steps taken to benefit from the proposed measures (...) are voluntary and individual\".\u00a0<\/p>\n

Inadequate investigations<\/h3>\n

In addition to these special measures for individuals, the text provides for introduction of a National Day of Forgiveness, a National Reconciliation Week and the drawing up of an inclusive general history of Mali.<\/p>\n

But for 47 Malian civil society organizations, the bill\u2019s provisions on prosecution of people suspected of crimes against humanity, war crimes and other serious crimes are simply \"inadequate\". \"We are not against national legislation, but it must come after judicial investigations,\" said Drissa Traor\u00e9, joint programme coordinator for the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the Malian Association for Human Rights (AMDH), at the press conference. \"But investigations are struggling to make progress. We need to wait for the results of investigations to determine who has blood on their hands and who doesn't.\"<\/p>\n

So civil society organizations think the government is putting the cart before the horse. They point out that the Truth and Reconciliation Commission charged with shedding light on the crisis is struggling to make progress owing to lack of resources and a climate of insecurity. Meanwhile, the International Commission of Inquiry on Mali has only just begun its work. This commission, set up under the Algiers peace accord and officially launched on October 22, is mandated by the United Nations \"to investigate all war crimes, crimes against humanity, crimes of genocide, sexual crimes and other serious violations of international law, human rights and international humanitarian law throughout the territory of Mali\". In such circumstances, the 47 organizations say there are fears that instead of ensuring facts relating to the crimes are brought to light, the law\u2019s effect be to \u201cclose the door to all claims for justice, at the expense of victims' rights to truth and justice\u201d. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\"We will not bend\"<\/h3>\n

What, then, does civil society want? The first thing is that the government withdraw its bill. Guiss\u00e9 Ramata, Executive Director of Amnesty International in Mali, says the proposed law \"ignores victims\u2019 rights and undermines ongoing efforts for justice and truth in Mali\". Signatories of the communiqu\u00e9 also call for victims' associations and human rights organizations to be consulted and for their concerns be taken into account when drafting a new bill. They also call on the government to \"make concrete commitments to the fight against impunity by guaranteeing efficient prosecution and investigation of the most serious crimes\".<\/p>\n

But do these activists have the means to make the government back down? \"We will not bend,\" says Moctar Mariko, president of the Malian Human Rights Association, which plans other initiatives including a peaceful protest march and sit-ins in front of the National Assembly.<\/p>\n

Civil society can also count on support from the political opposition, whose leaders came out against this bill as soon as it was announced at the beginning of the year by President \"IBK\". But the government says it is equally determined. \"It is totally out of the question to think they can make the government back down through petitions,\" Prime Minister Soumeylou Boub\u00e8ye Ma\u00efga told a public gathering in Bamako the day after the press conference. \"We cannot abandon this law,\" he continued, saying that the government \"has followed all the procedures\u201d. He said Mali was following the example of other countries \"that have experienced the same situation\" and that it was impossible \"to organize trials for hundreds of thousands of people\". \"We will exempt from prosecution all those who did not commit war crimes and violence against women during the crisis,\" he concluded.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In Mali, human rights activists are demanding withdrawal of a draft law on \u201cnational understanding\u201d which would grant amnesty to perpetrators of crimes linked to the 2012 rebellion. But the government says it will not back down, and that amnesty will not be available to those who committed the most serious crimes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":59,"featured_media":62020,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[543],"tags":[],"ji_location":[2339],"class_list":["post-39592","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-reconciliation","ji_location-mali"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nMali: Should there be amnesty or not? - JusticeInfo.net<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/39592-mali-should-there-be-amnesty-or-not.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mali: Should there be amnesty or not?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In Mali, human rights activists are demanding withdrawal of a draft law on \u201cnational understanding\u201d which would grant amnesty to perpetrators of crimes linked to the 2012 rebellion. But the government says it will not back down, and that amnesty will not be available to those who committed the most serious crimes.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/39592-mali-should-there-be-amnesty-or-not.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"JusticeInfo.net\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/JusticeInfo\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/rugiririza.ephrem.1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-11-26T11:48:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/df23e262ef91ba6193a95c7fe5d4b009.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"730\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"487\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ephrem Rugiririza\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ER72777667\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@justiceinfonet\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ephrem Rugiririza\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/39592-mali-should-there-be-amnesty-or-not.html#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/39592-mali-should-there-be-amnesty-or-not.html\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"erugiririza\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/3c444bdbf3536fdebfdc6b3a06b2fc4a\"},\"headline\":\"Mali: Should there be amnesty or not?\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-11-26T11:48:52+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/39592-mali-should-there-be-amnesty-or-not.html\"},\"wordCount\":893,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/39592-mali-should-there-be-amnesty-or-not.html#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/df23e262ef91ba6193a95c7fe5d4b009.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Reconciliation\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/39592-mali-should-there-be-amnesty-or-not.html#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/39592-mali-should-there-be-amnesty-or-not.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/39592-mali-should-there-be-amnesty-or-not.html\",\"name\":\"Mali: Should there be amnesty or not? - JusticeInfo.net\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/39592-mali-should-there-be-amnesty-or-not.html#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/39592-mali-should-there-be-amnesty-or-not.html#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/df23e262ef91ba6193a95c7fe5d4b009.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-11-26T11:48:52+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/39592-mali-should-there-be-amnesty-or-not.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/39592-mali-should-there-be-amnesty-or-not.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/39592-mali-should-there-be-amnesty-or-not.html#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/df23e262ef91ba6193a95c7fe5d4b009.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/df23e262ef91ba6193a95c7fe5d4b009.jpg\",\"width\":730,\"height\":487},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/39592-mali-should-there-be-amnesty-or-not.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Mali: Should there be amnesty or not?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/\",\"name\":\"JusticeInfo.net\",\"description\":\"For justice to be done, it must be seen\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Justice Info\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/justiceinfo_logo-trans_1200x1200px.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/justiceinfo_logo-trans_1200x1200px.png\",\"width\":1199,\"height\":1200,\"caption\":\"Justice Info\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/JusticeInfo\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/justiceinfonet\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/justice-info\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCyCEsARodyuWtkWyhn-e7pA\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"name\":\"Ephrem Rugiririza\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/rugiririza.ephrem.1\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/ER72777667\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/auteur\/erugiririza\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Mali: Should there be amnesty or not? - JusticeInfo.net","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/39592-mali-should-there-be-amnesty-or-not.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Mali: Should there be amnesty or not?","og_description":"In Mali, human rights activists are demanding withdrawal of a draft law on \u201cnational understanding\u201d which would grant amnesty to perpetrators of crimes linked to the 2012 rebellion. But the government says it will not back down, and that amnesty will not be available to those who committed the most serious crimes.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/39592-mali-should-there-be-amnesty-or-not.html","og_site_name":"JusticeInfo.net","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/JusticeInfo\/","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/rugiririza.ephrem.1","article_published_time":"2018-11-26T11:48:52+00:00","og_image":[{"width":730,"height":487,"url":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/df23e262ef91ba6193a95c7fe5d4b009.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Ephrem Rugiririza","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@ER72777667","twitter_site":"@justiceinfonet","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Ephrem Rugiririza","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/39592-mali-should-there-be-amnesty-or-not.html#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/39592-mali-should-there-be-amnesty-or-not.html"},"author":{"name":"erugiririza","@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/3c444bdbf3536fdebfdc6b3a06b2fc4a"},"headline":"Mali: Should there be amnesty or not?","datePublished":"2018-11-26T11:48:52+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/39592-mali-should-there-be-amnesty-or-not.html"},"wordCount":893,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/39592-mali-should-there-be-amnesty-or-not.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/df23e262ef91ba6193a95c7fe5d4b009.jpg","articleSection":["Reconciliation"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/39592-mali-should-there-be-amnesty-or-not.html#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/39592-mali-should-there-be-amnesty-or-not.html","url":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/39592-mali-should-there-be-amnesty-or-not.html","name":"Mali: Should there be amnesty or not? - JusticeInfo.net","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/39592-mali-should-there-be-amnesty-or-not.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/39592-mali-should-there-be-amnesty-or-not.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/df23e262ef91ba6193a95c7fe5d4b009.jpg","datePublished":"2018-11-26T11:48:52+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/39592-mali-should-there-be-amnesty-or-not.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/39592-mali-should-there-be-amnesty-or-not.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/39592-mali-should-there-be-amnesty-or-not.html#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/df23e262ef91ba6193a95c7fe5d4b009.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/df23e262ef91ba6193a95c7fe5d4b009.jpg","width":730,"height":487},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/39592-mali-should-there-be-amnesty-or-not.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Mali: Should there be amnesty or not?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/","name":"JusticeInfo.net","description":"For justice to be done, it must be seen","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#organization","name":"Justice Info","url":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/justiceinfo_logo-trans_1200x1200px.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/justiceinfo_logo-trans_1200x1200px.png","width":1199,"height":1200,"caption":"Justice Info"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/JusticeInfo\/","https:\/\/x.com\/justiceinfonet","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/justice-info","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCyCEsARodyuWtkWyhn-e7pA"]},{"@type":"Person","name":"Ephrem Rugiririza","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/rugiririza.ephrem.1","https:\/\/x.com\/ER72777667"],"url":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/auteur\/erugiririza"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39592","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/59"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39592"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39592\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/62020"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39592"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39592"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39592"},{"taxonomy":"ji_location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ji_location?post=39592"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}