The MINUSMA Division of human rights and protection has completed two days of fact-finding missions in Kouloubon village, in the center of Mali, where 37 people were killed in armed raid on 1 January.
The mission was tasked with establishing and documenting the facts and circumstances of alleged human rights violations committed during the mentioned attack.
Human Rights are a fundamental pillar of UN peacekeeping missions that contributes to the protection and promotion of human rights and international humanitarian law by monitoring, documenting and publishing reports on violations and abuses of human rights committed in the country, with a special focus on violence against women and children and conflict-related sexual violence. The findings will be made available in a report of the mission shortly.
The upsurge of inter-community conflicts between the Fulani herders and the Dogon and Bambara farmers, and intra-community conflicts among the Fulani, combined with the attacks by violent extremist groups all contributed to deepen the instability in the heart of Mali. More than 1,500 violent incidents caused the death of 1,323 civilians and injured 611 just in Central Mali since January 2017.
During the two days of the mission, Masamba Diop, the medical officer of the Senegalese Quick Reaction Force, consulted freely people in the village of Koulougon. A hard job given the circumstances in which it is done, that requires extreme professionalism, and above all- patience. “We noted a great interest on the part of the population for our health care. For us it is a great honor to bring them this care, even if small, at least we felt useful,” he said~MINUSMA
