United Nations experts on Tuesday called for an independent investigation into possible war crimes and crimes against humanity in Mali by government forces and Russian private military contractor the Wagner Group.
Mali, whose government took power in a 2021 military coup, has previously said Russian forces in the West African country are not mercenaries but trainers helping local troops with equipment bought from Moscow.
“Since 2021, the experts have received persistent and alarming accounts of horrific executions, mass graves, acts of torture, rape and sexual violence, pillaging, arbitrary detentions, and enforced disappearances perpetrated by Malian armed forces and their allies,” said the statement from the independent experts.
Last week, the United States designated Wagner as a “transnational criminal organization” responsible for widespread human rights abuses.
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