Faith Nyasuguta
Mali’s ruling junta has revealed that it is expelling the head of the human rights division of MINUSMA, the UN mission there, giving him two days to leave the country.
The move comes after a Malian rights activist in January denounced the security situation in the country in a speech to a UN gathering, and accused the regime’s new Russian military partners of serious rights violations.
The foreign ministry had dubbed Guillaume Ngefa Atonodok Andali, head of MINUSMA’s human rights section, persona non grata, according to a statement issued by government spokesman Colonel Abdoulaye Maiga.
“This measure comes after the destabilising and subversive actions of Monsieur Andali,”added the statement, which was also read out on national television news.
The statement detailed that Andali had taken it upon himself to decide who were the representatives of civil society, ignoring the authorities and national institutions.
“Andali’s bias was even more evident during the last review of the United Nations Security Council on Mali”, the statement added.
On January 27, Aminata Cheick Dicko condemned the regime at a special UN Security Council briefing on Mali.
The MINUSMA was set up in 2013 to try to stabilise Mali in the face of the growing threat from jihadist fighters.
Its mission also included the protection of civilians, contributing to peace efforts and defending human rights.
But the security situation has continued to worsen in the west African nation.
The military regime has severally blocked MINUSMA’s attempts to investigate growing reports of human rights abuses executed by the armed forces.
