Recurrent and expanding violence perpetrated by armed Islamist groups, as well as security operations to confront them, threaten populations in the Central Sahel – Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger – with violations that likely amount to crimes against humanity and war crimes.

BACKGROUND:

Populations in the Central Sahel – Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger – are enduring armed conflict and inter-communal violence amidst a decade-long insurgency driven by armed Islamist groups affiliated with al-Qaeda and the so-called Islamic State Sahel Province. According to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED), over 12,000 people, most of whom were civilians, were killed in 2023. At least 2.8 million people are internally displaced in the region, including 2.1 million in Burkina Faso alone. Violence has also taken place between rival ethnic militias and community-based self-defense groups resulting in reprisal attacks and countless abuses.

Armed Islamist groups perpetrate recurrent abuses and attacks against civilians, including grave violations against children and conflict-related sexual violence. These groups systematically use sieges, threats, kidnappings, improvised explosive devices and landmines as deliberate tactics of war as they seek to control supply routes and increase areas of influence. Armed Islamist groups are committing war crimes in besieged areas, blocking humanitarian aid to civilians and causing starvation, imposing forced taxation and strategically destroying and looting civilian objects, including places of worship, health centers, food reserves and water services, among other violations of International Humanitarian Law (IHL). Insurgents also routinely target secular state education, burning schools and threatening, abducting or killing teachers.

Counterterrorism operations have often led to human rights violations in all three states, with security forces in Mali and Burkina Faso directly implicated in likely war crimes and crimes against humanity. In Mali, the Russian paramilitary group Africa Corps (formerly the Wagner Group) has perpetrated possible war crimes and crimes against humanity, including summary executions, rape and sexual violence, pillaging and torture against civilians, while working alongside the Malian Armed Forces (FAMa) since at least December 2021. State-sponsored militias in Burkina Faso, notably the Volunteers for the Defense of the Homeland (VDP), have also been implicated in grave crimes along ethnic lines.

The region has faced significant political and security upheaval since 2020, including military takeovers in all three countries. According to ACLED, the number of civilians killed by armed Islamist groups in Niger increased in the first year of military rule compared with the previous year, as attacks became more lethal but less frequent. Nigerien defense and security forces killed three times as many civilians since the July 2023 coup, as well as arbitrarily arrested civilians along ethnic lines. Amid these shifts, the military regimes have taken steps to repress civic and political space and reduce international scrutiny into the country’s human rights situations. The decision by the three military regimes to create the Alliance of Sahel States – a mutual defense pact – and withdraw from the Economic Community of West African States in January 2024 has compounded regional fragmentation and tensions.

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS:

Since the start of 2024, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has frequently raised alarm regarding the dramatic deterioration of the situation in Burkina Faso, where over 2,100 civilians have been killed this year, many in a series of mass casualty incidents. In late August al-Qaeda-affiliated Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM) perpetrated one of the deadliest attacks in the country, killing an estimated 200 to 600 people in Barsalogho. During April Burkinabé authorities extended the “general mobilization” decree in a purported effort to curtail the spread of violence and recapture territory lost to armed Islamist groups. Burkinabé authorities have subsequently abused this law by forcibly conscripting, arbitrarily arresting or kidnapping dozens of perceived critics, human rights defenders and magistrates in counterinsurgency operations, likely amounting to enforced disappearances.

Amid heightened tensions and sporadic clashes in northern Mali since August 2023, thousands of civilians have been displaced, with some fleeing to avoid being recruited by armed groups. An offensive by FAMa and Russian paramilitaries has been characterized by systematic and indiscriminate killing of civilians – particularly Tuareg, Arabic-speaking tribes and Fulani – targeted attacks on civilian property and looting, among other abuses. In recent months, clashes have occurred in the rebel stronghold of Tinzaouaten between FAMa, Russian paramilitaries and a coalition of separatist Tuareg movements. FAMa has conducted airstrikes against armed groups; however, dozens of casualties have been reported amidst targeted attacks on civilians. Meanwhile, JNIM has killed scores of civilians and destroyed civilian property in central Mali since January.

During September JNIM launched an unprecedented and large-scale deadly assault in Mali’s capital, including setting fire to a World Food Programme plane. In the aftermath of the attack, reports emerged of the arrest of individuals from the Fulani community. Videos also showed mobs burning several bodies following calls to lynch members of the community.

ANALYSIS:

While Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger each face distinct challenges, these states also share a legacy of structural vulnerabilities, weak governance, limited state presence and porous borders. Although the military authorities in each country have expressed a goal of advancing security to protect civilian lives, risks to civilians have amplified amidst a deteriorating security situation and efforts to investigate allegations of atrocities by state actors have been undermined.

The expanded area of influence and/or control by armed Islamist groups has resulted in serious human rights abuses and war crimes. Armed Islamist groups appear to be deliberately targeting civilians as a tactic to pressure communities into cooperation or forcibly displace them, as well as utilizing blockades to punish communities perceived to be supportive of the military. The blockades inhibit aid access to vulnerable populations and information gathering on the human rights situation.

Populations continue to be targeted and persecuted on the basis of their ethnic and/or religious identity. The VDP’s actions fuel abuses and possible atrocity crimes, aggravate ethnic tensions, encourage militant recruitment among pastoralists and contribute to prevailing impunity. The growing use of aerial weapons during counterinsurgency operations has contributed to indiscriminate violence, civilian harm and possible war crimes.

Despite the deterioration of the situation in Mali, the UN sanctions regime and peacekeeping mission were terminated, resulting in significant gaps in human rights monitoring, civilian protection and accountability. The crackdown against human rights defenders and freedom of expression across the three countries has inhibited independent documentation and monitoring of violations and abuses.

The insurgency in the Central Sahel has its origins in the 2012-2013 armed conflict in northern Mali, during which populations endured war crimes and crimes against humanity. The International Criminal Court (ICC) has subsequently issued an arrest warrant for Iyad Ag Ghaly, the head of the armed Islamist group Ansar Dine, for war crimes and crimes against humanity. The ICC has convicted Al Hassan Ag Abdoul Aziz, a senior member of the Islamic Police of Timbuktu and member of Ansar Dine, guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity, and Ahmad al-Faqi al-Mahdi of war crimes for the intentional destruction of cultural sites. Accountability remains limited with few alleged perpetrators having been arrested, prosecuted or tried for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

RISK ASSESSMENT:

• • Militarized approach of counterinsurgency that stigmatizes certain populations and increases risk of escalatory dynamics.
  • Unresolved long-standing inter-communal tensions and grievances and the use of militias and self-defense groups that perpetrate attacks along ethnic lines.
  • Impunity for past and ongoing atrocities by all armed actors.
  • Capacity to commit atrocity crimes, including availability of personnel, arms and ammunition.
  • Shrinking civic space and crackdown on independent media, human rights defenders and real or perceived opponents by military regimes.

NECESSARY ACTION:

While countering violent extremism remains crucial, it is essential that all armed actors ensure that their operations comply with IHL and do not exacerbate inter-communal tensions or fuel further violence. The militaries must establish guidelines on the use of aerial weapons during operations and ensure they minimize civilian harm. All actors should refrain from supporting or collaborating with ethnically aligned militias with poor human rights records.

Additional measures must be implemented to end the proliferation of arms, improve land management and reach political settlements in areas where atrocity risks are greatest.

The military authorities of the Central Sahel – with support from national human rights commissions and independent experts – should investigate all violations of International Human Rights Law and IHL. The authorities must end all acts of harassment against civil society and ensure they can carry out their activities without fear of reprisals. The Malian military government should cooperate with the UN Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in Mali to ensure they can effectively carry out their mandate.