Mali

CONTENT WARNING: this article makes references to sexual violence, torture, and other details that some readers may find upsetting.
The Wagner Group is a Russian paramilitary organisation founded in 2014 by former GRU officer Dmitry Utkin and businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin, and has been described as “one of Russia’s most influential foreign policy tools”. Since its founding, Wagner Group has become known for its readiness to use extreme levels of violence and brutality during its operations.

Bringing together statements and analysis on January 2013's military interventions in Mali.

Militarized politics at their worst: Mali An article from Peter Dörrie, published by Waging Nonviolence. Mali: Hijacked Autonomy and French Intervention An article from friend of WRI René Wadlow, published by Toward Freedom. Why western intervention is destined to fail in Mali from Ben Zala and Anna Alissa Hitzemann of UK-based Oxford Research Group. The bombing of Mali highlights all the lessons of western intervention by Glenn Greenwald - looking at the west African nation that has become 'the eighth country in the last four years alone where Muslims are killed by the west'. Algeria, Mali and beyond by Paul Rogers: 'The seizure of an international gas-plant in Algeria follows closely the escalation of conflict in Mali. The response of western states to both reinforces the worldview of their Islamist adversaries'. Read the full article on openDemocracy

-------------------------------

Mali: peace is not war!

Statement from WRI section Union pacifiste de France. Also available in French here.

30/07/1998

From 1990 onwards there has been an armed conflict in the north of Mali. Armed Tuareg groups attacked government institutions and civilians. Due to the armed conflict, 120,000 Tuaregs fled abroad. In 1992 a peace agreement was signed between the government and the Unified Movements and Fronts of Azawad (MFUA), an umbrella organisation of four armed Tuareg groups. The agreement provided for disarmament of the Tuareg rebels and their integration into the armed forces. But the rebellion and the killings did not cease.

African women peace activists were very visible during the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women and the parallel NGO Forum, which took place in Beijing, China, in September 1995. A highlight of the opening ceremony for the NGO Forum featured the presentation of a peace torch by the African Women for Conflict and Peace Project. "The woman is the first person to promote peace, because she is the first victim when there is no peace," said one African activist. Below is a brief sketch of some of the peace work African women are involved in.