Sahel: “In 2020, more unarmed civilians or suspects were killed by security forces than by extremist groups.”

A version of this op-ed appeared in French in Le Monde on 14 February 2021

By Drissa Traoré, coordinator of the joint FIDH/Malian Association for Human Rights (AMDH) program, member of the People's Coalition for the Sahel.   

In the Sahel, "the results are there," stated President Emmanuel Macron last month in a statement to the army. Florence Parly, France’s Minister of the Armed Forces, likewise welcomed France’s "important military successes" in the region. In the run-up to next week’s G5 Sahel summit, which will bring together Sahelian, French, and European leaders in N’Djamena, Chad, to take stock of the current strategy for stabilising the Sahel, we are being told of "operational progress" in the Sahel. For us, Sahelian civil society activists working closely with populations affected by the multiple crises in our region, it can be difficult to reconcile these statements with our reality on the ground.  

2020 was the deadliest year for civilians in the Sahel yet. Nearly 2,400  were killed in Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger, according to ACLED data, and ongoing violence has resulted in the forced displacement of more than two million people. Not a week goes by without us being alerted to new attacks.  

So no, for a farmer whose family has been living for months under a tarp in a makeshift camp, far from his field, his children deprived of school, the results are not there. The massive deployment of Sahelian, French, European and UN troops in the region has not, as yet, brought him the security to which he aspires and is entitled. 

Crimes go unpunished 

The intensification of anti-terrorist operations decided upon last year by the French president and his Sahelian counterparts at the Pau summit has had a tragic unintended consequence: in 2020, more civilians were killed by elements of the defence and security forces than by jihadist groups. 

This trend signals the failure of a strategy that prioritizes security without sufficiently improving protection for civilians. Further, it is an obstacle to the restoration of effective governance, which was rightly prioritized by leaders last year in Pau. How can confidence in the State be restored when men in uniform are perceived as a threat by a large part of the population? 

This feeling is compounded by a series of violent incidents that have gone unpunished. Among the growing list of bereaved villages, three cases stand out. In Inatès, Niger, the 2020 National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) identified 71 civilian bodies in mass graves and concluded that elements of the defense and security forces were responsible. In Djibo, Burkina Faso, more than 210 mass executions attributed to government forces were documented by Human Rights Watch between November 2019 and June 2020. In Binedama, Mali, 37 people, including several women and children, were killed on June 5, 2020, in an assault on their village by a 30-vehicle military convoy accompanied by self-defense militias, according to a UN expert.    

"When you are more afraid of the military, who is supposed to protect you, than of the armed bandit who can kill you, it makes no sense," said a survivor of the Inatès massacres to investigators from the CNDH Niger. Nine months after the incident, Nigerien officials have yet to visit the scene to pay tribute to the victims. No reparations have been paid to the families. The proceedings that were announced by the authorities have not yet started. In Burkina Faso, there was no significant progress on commitments to investigate abuses by the armed forces. In Mali, prosecution orders were signed against military personnel involved in the incident, but no arrest warrants were issued, as reported by the United Nations.   

Public mistrust

Bringing justice to the victims of crimes committed by members of the defence and security forces in the Sahel is not only an imperative for governments in the region with regard to their international obligations. It is also an essential condition for restoring confidence between the populations and their leaders, and for restoring stability in the region. Continued impunity fuels tensions between communities and feeds the cycle of violence by enhancing the recruitment capability of armed groups who exploit people's resentment and mistrust of the authorities. 

Last June, Heads of State of the G5 Sahel pledged to take "exemplary sanctions" against the elements of the defense and security forces found guilty of abuses. eight months later, their commitment remains unfulfilled. Next week's summit in N'Djamena gives them the opportunity to match words with deeds by placing the protection of civilian populations, human rights, and the fight against impunity at the heart of a renewed strategy for the Sahel, as recommended by the People's Coalition for the Sahel. Faced with the clear limitations of the current security-based approach, France and other partners of the Sahelian governments must heed the recommendations of civil society and support this reordering of priorities, which is essential for a return to stability in the Sahel.