Musings From Abroad

Mali: Russia, China disagree with UN’s request for independent investigations over Moura massacre

Published

3 years ago

April 10, 2022

Russia and China have disagreed with the United Nations Security Council’s request for independent investigations into the alleged Moura massacre in Mali.

The request was made in a statement drafted by France and submitted to the Security Council for approval Friday.

The investigation request stressed “deep concern” and calls for investigation “at the allegations of human rights violations and abuses in Mali, in particular those perpetrated against civilians in Moura, in the Mopti region, from 27 to 31 March 2022.

But Moscow and Beijing “did not see the need” for the investigation, and considered it “premature” since an investigation had been opened by the Malian authorities.

Last week, the army in Mali said its troops killed over 200 jihadists in military operations in the center of the Sahel state but UN Peacekeeping Mission in the country countered the claims, saying it has heard reports of civilian deaths, raising human rights concerns.

There have been reports of human rights abuses against civilians during the Malian armed forces’ anti-terrorism operation in Moura, the UN in its report underscored the need for the Malian authorities to cooperate with the Mission so it can access the site of the alleged violations.

UN said its mission has opened 17 investigations into the allegations of indiscriminate attacks against civilians, extrajudicial arrests, mistreatment, forced disappearances, and extrajudicial killings.

In contrast, the Russian Foreign Ministry on Friday congratulated Mali on an “important victory” against “terrorism” and described as “disinformation” allegations about the massacre of civilians by Malian forces, as well as those about the involvement of Russian mercenaries from the private company Wagner in the operation.

Last Sunday, the US State Department said it is following “extremely disturbing accounts” of large numbers of people killed in Moura and reported that the army in Mali had recruited Russian Mercenaries – Wagner Group in its latest assault on supposed terrorists.

Related Topics:Featured Mali Moura village UN

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Musings From Abroad

Finnish court imprisons Nigeria’s Simon Ekpa for aiding terrorism

Published

11 hours ago

November 21, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Simon Ekpa, a Nigerian separatist leader based abroad, has been placed under detention by the Päijät Häme District Court in Finland on suspicion of inciting others to commit acts of terrorism.

According to the local daily, Helsingin Sanomat, the court rendered the ruling on Thursday following his arraignment by the Central Criminal Police for his involvement in the terror attacks that have afflicted the southeast area of Nigeria.

“The police suspect that the man has promoted his efforts from Finland with means that have led to violence against civilians in the region of South-Eastern Nigeria,” stated Otto Hiltunen, the crime commissioner and investigation head.

“The man has carried out his activity, among other things, on his social media channels.”

Hiltunen also informed the court that the police suspected four additional individuals in Finland of funding Ekpa’s activities.

According to the story, Ekpa is of Nigerian descent and was born in the Finnish city of Lahti.

His offence occurred between August 23, 2021, and November 18, 2024, according to court documents cited in the publication.

Ekpa is not the only person the police have arrested. In February 2023, they caught him at a private Lahtian flat, but he was freed the same day.

Through the Eastern Security Network (ESN) and the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) movement, Ekpa has continued to be outspoken on social media, raising money and agitating for a Biafran nation to secede. In the southeast part of Nigeria, both factions have been involved in acts of violence, murders, and maimings.

Since gaining formal independence in 1960, Nigeria has seen the emergence of several separatist organisations. The latest surge of calls for self-determination among different ethnic groups has been louder under its immediate previous President Muhammadu Buhari.

Musings From Abroad

Malian singer Rokia Traore arrested in Italy, to be sent to Belgium

Published

1 day ago

November 20, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

After Italy’s top court denied her appeal, well-known Malian singer, Rokia Traore, who was detained in Rome in June due to a global child custody dispute, will be sent over to Belgium in the next few days, her attorney announced on Wednesday.

The 50-year-old Traore is a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR and one of Africa’s most well-known vocalists.

“Rokia suffered an injustice. She was arrested without the Belgian criminal court hearing her voice. Now, the battle for Rokia’s rights moves to Brussels,” lawyer Maddalena Del Re said in a statement to Reuters.

The attorney also stated that in its decision late Tuesday, Italy’s Court of Cassation upheld an extradition decision from the European Court of Justice.

Under a European arrest order, Traore was taken into custody on June 20 at the Fiumicino airport in Rome. In October 2023, she was given a two-year prison sentence in Belgium related to a dispute over her daughter’s custody.

She had flown to perform outside Rome’s Colosseum, and she has been imprisoned in Civitavecchia, close to the Italian city, since her detention at Fiumicino.

Lawyer Del Re said that because a conviction was rendered without the defendant’s presence, the Belgian process goes against both international norms and Italian constitutional standards.

After she disregarded a court order to turn over her baby to her Belgian father, the singer’s divorced ex-partner, she was initially taken into custody in France in 2020 on a Belgian arrest warrant.

She disobeyed orders not to leave France until her extradition case was handled by taking a private jet to Mali months after being conditionally released. Mali is where her daughter resides.