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<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><br class=""><div><blockquote type="cite" class=""><br class=""><div class="">
<div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><h2 style="margin: 0.42em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.2em;" class=""><font size="4" class=""><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-weight: 400;" class="">It</span><font color="#333333" face="Georgia, Times New Roman, serif" class=""><span style="font-weight: normal;" class="">’s too bad no one really cares, I like to think some of us tried to enlighten……</span></font></font></h2><h2 style="margin: 0.42em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.2em; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class=""><span style="font-size: 36px;" class="">French-backed security forces in the Sahel guilty of mass extrajudicial executions</span></h2><h5 style="margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.3em; font-size: 1.1em; font-style: italic; color: rgb(102, 102, 102); font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class="">By Will Morrow <br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">10 July 2020</h5><p style="margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.36em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class="">A Human Rights Watch report published yesterday provides evidence that Burkina Faso troops are carrying out mass extrajudicial executions of civilians as part of operations in the French-led war in the Sahel.</p><p style="margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.36em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class="">The report is another exposure of the Franco-German-led war in Mali and the Sahel as a neo-colonial intervention whose aim is the subjugation of the resource-rich and geo-strategically critical region and its population. It follows a series of reports documenting similar atrocities by troops in Niger and Mali, which along with Burkina Faso, Chad and Mauritania make up the G5 force fighting alongside the European-led intervention. It also comes as the European powers are escalating their occupation, which is being cynically waged under the banner of combating “terrorism” and protecting human rights.</p><p style="margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.36em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class="">The report is based on interviews with 23 people from the northern town of Djibo, 45 kilometers from the border with Mali, including farmers, traders, civil servants and aid workers. All spoke anonymously for fear of government reprisals. In recent months, common graves have been uncovered in Djibo containing the bodies of at least 180 people, all men, killed in that town alone. All the witnesses said they believed the murders were committed by security forces, after the victims had been arrested.</p><div class="imageFull" style="margin: 15px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; float: none; width: 480px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10px;"><img src="https://www.wsws.org/asset/ee06acd7-08ed-480d-ab76-1b5369e0f64O/image.jpg?rendition=image480" srcset="https://www.wsws.org/asset/ee06acd7-08ed-480d-ab76-1b5369e0f64O/image.jpg?rendition=image960 2x" width="480" style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; padding: 0px; float: left; width: 480px; max-width: 100%; border: 0px solid rgb(255, 255, 255);" class=""><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 2px; display: block; font-weight: 700; font-size: 1.2em; line-height: 1.1em;" class="">Soldiers from Burkina Faso before deployment to an exercise in Mali (Credit: Wikimedia Commons)</span></div><p style="margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.36em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class="">The executions reportedly spanned from November 2019 to June 2020. The victims’ bodies were left under roadways and bridges, fields and vacant lots. Most were found with their hands bound tightly behind their back and blindfolded, shot in the head. One farmer told HRW, “At night, so many times I’d hear the sound of vehicles and then, bam! bam! bam! And the next morning we’d see or hear of bodies found in this place or that.”</p><p style="margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.36em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class="">The residents reported that in most cases the bodies were left out in the open for days or weeks. Anyone accused of harboring sympathy for the Islamist ISIS forces fighting against the government could be killed. “People are just too terrified that if they claim the body of a man accused of being a terrorist, they too will be taken and end up dead,” one resident said.</p><p style="margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.36em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class="">The report includes specific details of mass executions. One man said: “I discovered the bodies of nine people some meters off the road, one of whom was my 23-year-old nephew. They’d been arrested the day before. A friend called around 11:00 a.m. saying there was trouble in the market, that my boy had been arrested. I went to the market immediately and saw all nine, tied up and face down on the ground. Four gendarmes led them into their vehicle and took them away. That night around 8:00 p.m. I heard shots near the Djibo dam, and in the morning saw them in the bush, hands tied, riddled with bullets… We were too afraid to even bury them … we had to watch my nephew turn into a skeleton. He was not laid to rest until the mass burial in March, with dozens of others, but it was hardly a funeral and my boy was not a jihadist.”</p><p style="margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.36em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class="">In March and April, the residents received permission to bury the bodies, and were “strictly forbidden” from taking photographs of the mass graves. “No one would dare do that because the FDS [Defense and Security Forces] was watching,” a resident said.</p><p style="margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.36em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class="">“I didn’t recognize any of them,” one resident said, “but several of those watching the burial later told me they’d recognized their father, brother, or son … that he’d been missing since being arrested by the soldiers in Djibo or in their village—weeks or months earlier. They didn’t say anything during the burial though … out of fear that they too would be arrested.”</p><div id="widgetContainer" class="imageLeft" style="margin: 15px 10px 10px 0px; padding: 0px; float: left; width: 245px; background-color: rgb(241, 241, 241); overflow: hidden; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10px;"><div class="flash-messages" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 10px;"><div class="flash-message--thank-you-for-subscribing flash-message" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; max-height: 0px; overflow-y: hidden; text-align: center; transition: max-height 1s ease-in-out;"><h6 style="margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.2em; font-size: 1.6em;" class=""></h6><div style="margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.36em;" class=""><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div></div><div class="flash-message--thank-you-double-opt-in flash-message" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; max-height: 0px; overflow-y: hidden; 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padding: 0.5em; width: 205px; border-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); box-shadow: rgb(255, 255, 255) 0px 0px 0px inset; border-top-left-radius: 4px; border-top-right-radius: 4px; border-bottom-right-radius: 4px; border-bottom-left-radius: 4px;"> <option value="" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class=""></option> <option value="Afghanistan" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Afghanistan</option> <option value="Åland Islands" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Åland Islands</option> <option value="Albania" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Albania</option> <option value="Algeria" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Algeria</option> <option value="Andorra" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Andorra</option> <option value="Angola" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Angola</option> <option value="Anguilla" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Anguilla</option> <option value="Antarctica" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Antarctica</option> <option value="Antigua and Barbuda" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Antigua and Barbuda</option> <option value="Argentina" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Argentina</option> <option value="Armenia" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Armenia</option> <option value="Aruba" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Aruba</option> <option value="Australia" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Australia</option> <option value="Austria" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Austria</option> <option value="Azerbaijan" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Azerbaijan</option> <option value="Bahamas" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Bahamas</option> <option value="Bahrain" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Bahrain</option> <option value="Bangladesh" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Bangladesh</option> <option value="Barbados" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Barbados</option> <option value="Belarus" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Belarus</option> <option value="Belgium" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Belgium</option> <option value="Belize" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Belize</option> <option value="Benin" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Benin</option> <option value="Bermuda" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Bermuda</option> <option value="Bhutan" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Bhutan</option> <option value="Bolivia" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Bolivia</option> <option value="Bonaire, Saint Eustatius and Saba" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Bonaire, Saint Eustatius and Saba</option> <option value="Bosnia and Herzegovina" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Bosnia and Herzegovina</option> <option value="Botswana" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Botswana</option> <option value="Bouvet Island" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Bouvet Island</option> <option value="Brazil" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Brazil</option> <option value="Brunei" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Brunei</option> <option value="Bulgaria" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Bulgaria</option> <option value="Burkina Faso" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Burkina Faso</option> <option value="Burundi" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Burundi</option> <option value="Cape Verde" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Cape Verde</option> <option value="Cambodia" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Cambodia</option> <option value="Cameroon" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Cameroon</option> <option value="Canada" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Canada</option> <option value="Cayman Islands" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Cayman Islands</option> <option value="Central African Republic" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Central African Republic</option> <option value="Chad" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Chad</option> <option value="Chile" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Chile</option> <option value="China" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">China</option> <option value="Colombia" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Colombia</option> <option value="Comoros" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Comoros</option> <option value="Cook Islands" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Cook Islands</option> <option value="Costa Rica" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Costa Rica</option> <option value="Croatia" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Croatia</option> <option value="Cuba" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Cuba</option> <option value="Cyprus" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Cyprus</option> <option value="Czech Republic" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Czech Republic</option> <option value="Denmark" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Denmark</option> <option value="Djibouti" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Djibouti</option> <option value="Dominica" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Dominica</option> <option value="Dominican Republic" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Dominican Republic</option> <option value="Democratic Republic of the Congo" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Democratic Republic of the Congo</option> <option value="East Timor" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">East Timor</option> <option value="Ecuador" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Ecuador</option> <option value="Egypt" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Egypt</option> <option value="El Salvador" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">El Salvador</option> <option value="Equatorial Guinea" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Equatorial Guinea</option> <option value="Eritrea" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Eritrea</option> <option value="Estonia" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Estonia</option> <option value="Ethiopia" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Ethiopia</option> <option value="Falkland Islands" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Falkland Islands</option> <option value="Fiji" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Fiji</option> <option value="Finland" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Finland</option> <option value="France" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">France</option> <option value="French Guiana" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">French Guiana</option> <option value="French Polynesia" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">French Polynesia</option> <option value="Gabon" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Gabon</option> <option value="Gambia" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Gambia</option> <option value="Georgia" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Georgia</option> <option value="Germany" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Germany</option> <option value="Ghana" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Ghana</option> <option value="Gibraltar" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Gibraltar</option> <option value="Greece" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Greece</option> <option value="Greenland" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Greenland</option> <option value="Grenada" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Grenada</option> <option value="Guadeloupe" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Guadeloupe</option> <option value="Guam" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Guam</option> <option value="Guatemala" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Guatemala</option> <option value="Guernsey" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Guernsey</option> <option value="Guinea" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Guinea</option> <option value="Guinea Bissau" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Guinea Bissau</option> <option value="Guyana" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Guyana</option> <option value="Haiti" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Haiti</option> <option value="Heard Island and McDonald Islands" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Heard Island and McDonald Islands</option> <option value="Holy See" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Holy See</option> <option value="Honduras" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Honduras</option> <option value="Hong Kong" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Hong Kong</option> <option value="Hungary" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Hungary</option> <option value="Iceland" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Iceland</option> <option value="India" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">India</option> <option value="Indonesia" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Indonesia</option> <option value="Iran" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Iran</option> <option value="Iraq" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Iraq</option> <option value="Ireland" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Ireland</option> <option value="Israel" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Israel</option> <option value="Italy" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Italy</option> <option value="Ivory Coast" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Ivory Coast</option> <option value="Jamaica" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Jamaica</option> <option value="Japan" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Japan</option> <option value="Jersey" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Jersey</option> <option value="Jordan" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Jordan</option> <option value="Kazakhstan" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Kazakhstan</option> <option value="Kenya" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Kenya</option> <option value="Kiribati" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Kiribati</option> <option value="Kuwait" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Kuwait</option> <option value="Kyrgyzstan" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Kyrgyzstan</option> <option value="Laos" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Laos</option> <option value="Latvia" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Latvia</option> <option value="Lebanon" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Lebanon</option> <option value="Lesotho" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Lesotho</option> <option value="Liberia" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Liberia</option> <option value="Libya" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Libya</option> <option value="Liechtenstein" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Liechtenstein</option> <option value="Lithuania" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Lithuania</option> <option value="Luxembourg" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Luxembourg</option> <option value="Macao" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Macao</option> <option value="Macedonia" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Macedonia</option> <option value="Madagascar" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Madagascar</option> <option value="Malawi" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Malawi</option> <option value="Malaysia" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Malaysia</option> <option value="Maldives" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Maldives</option> <option value="Mali" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Mali</option> <option value="Malta" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Malta</option> <option value="Marshall Islands" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Marshall Islands</option> <option value="Martinique" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Martinique</option> <option value="Mauritania" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Mauritania</option> <option value="Mauritius" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Mauritius</option> <option value="Mayotte" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Mayotte</option> <option value="Mexico" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Mexico</option> <option value="Micronesia" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Micronesia</option> <option value="Moldova" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Moldova</option> <option value="Monaco" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Monaco</option> <option value="Mongolia" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Mongolia</option> <option value="Montenegro" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Montenegro</option> <option value="Montserrat" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Montserrat</option> <option value="Morocco" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Morocco</option> <option value="Mozambique" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Mozambique</option> <option value="Myanmar" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Myanmar</option> <option value="Namibia" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Namibia</option> <option value="Nauru" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Nauru</option> <option value="Nepal" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Nepal</option> <option value="Netherlands" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Netherlands</option> <option value="New Caledonia" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">New Caledonia</option> <option value="New Zealand" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">New Zealand</option> <option value="Nicaragua" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Nicaragua</option> <option value="Niger" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Niger</option> <option value="Nigeria" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Nigeria</option> <option value="Niue" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Niue</option> <option value="North Korea" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">North Korea</option> <option value="Northern Mariana Islands" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Northern Mariana Islands</option> <option value="Norway" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Norway</option> <option value="Oman" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Oman</option> <option value="Pakistan" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Pakistan</option> <option value="Palau" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Palau</option> <option value="Palestine" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Palestine</option> <option value="Panama" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Panama</option> <option value="Papua New Guinea" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Papua New Guinea</option> <option value="Paraguay" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Paraguay</option> <option value="Peru" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Peru</option> <option value="Philippines" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Philippines</option> <option value="Pitcairn" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Pitcairn</option> <option value="Poland" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Poland</option> <option value="Portugal" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Portugal</option> <option value="Puerto Rico" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Puerto Rico</option> <option value="Qatar" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Qatar</option> <option value="Republic of the Congo" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Republic of the Congo</option> <option value="Réunion" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Réunion</option> <option value="Romania" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Romania</option> <option value="Russia" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Russia</option> <option value="Rwanda" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Rwanda</option> <option value="Saint Barthelemy" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Saint Barthelemy</option> <option value="Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha</option> <option value="Saint Kitts and Nevis" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Saint Kitts and Nevis</option> <option value="Saint Lucia" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Saint Lucia</option> <option value="Saint Martin" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Saint Martin</option> <option value="Saint Pierre and Miquelon" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Saint Pierre and Miquelon</option> <option value="Saint Vincent and the Grenadines" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Saint Vincent and the Grenadines</option> <option value="Samoa" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Samoa</option> <option value="San Marino" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">San Marino</option> <option value="Sao Tome and Principe" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Sao Tome and Principe</option> <option value="Saudi Arabia" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Saudi Arabia</option> <option value="Senegal" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Senegal</option> <option value="Serbia" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Serbia</option> <option value="Seychelles" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Seychelles</option> <option value="Sierra Leone" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Sierra Leone</option> <option value="Singapore" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Singapore</option> <option value="Slovakia" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Slovakia</option> <option value="Slovenia" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Slovenia</option> <option value="Solomon Islands" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Solomon Islands</option> <option value="Somalia" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Somalia</option> <option value="South Africa" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">South Africa</option> <option value="South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands</option> <option value="South Korea" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">South Korea</option> <option value="South Sudan" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">South Sudan</option> <option value="Spain" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Spain</option> <option value="Sri Lanka" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Sri Lanka</option> <option value="Svalbard and Jan Mayen" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Svalbard and Jan Mayen</option> <option value="Sudan" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Sudan</option> <option value="Suriname" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Suriname</option> <option value="Swaziland" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Swaziland</option> <option value="Sweden" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Sweden</option> <option value="Switzerland" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Switzerland</option> <option value="Syria" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Syria</option> <option value="Tahiti" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Tahiti</option> <option value="Taiwan" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Taiwan</option> <option value="Tajikistan" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Tajikistan</option> <option value="Tanzania" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Tanzania</option> <option value="Thailand" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Thailand</option> <option value="Togo" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Togo</option> <option value="Tokelau" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Tokelau</option> <option value="Tonga" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Tonga</option> <option value="Trinidad and Tobago" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Trinidad and Tobago</option> <option value="Tunisia" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Tunisia</option> <option value="Turkey" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Turkey</option> <option value="Turkmenistan" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Turkmenistan</option> <option value="Turks and Caicos Islands" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Turks and Caicos Islands</option> <option value="Tuvalu" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Tuvalu</option> <option value="United Kingdom" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">United Kingdom</option> <option value="United States" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">United States</option> <option value="Unknown" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Unknown</option> <option value="Uganda" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Uganda</option> <option value="Ukraine" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Ukraine</option> <option value="United Arab Emirates" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">United Arab Emirates</option> <option value="Uruguay" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Uruguay</option> <option value="Uzbekistan" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Uzbekistan</option> <option value="Vanuatu" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Vanuatu</option> <option value="Venezuela" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Venezuela</option> <option value="Vietnam" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Vietnam</option> <option value="Virgin Islands (British)" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Virgin Islands (British)</option> <option value="Virgin Islands (U.S.)" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Virgin Islands (U.S.)</option> <option value="Wallis and Futuna" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Wallis and Futuna</option> <option value="Western Sahara" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Western Sahara</option> <option value="Yemen" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Yemen</option> <option value="Yugoslavia" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Yugoslavia</option> <option value="Zambia" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Zambia</option> <option value="Zimbabwe" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Zimbabwe</option> </select></div><div id="mauticform_wswsnewsletterconversionqualifiedleadconversionwidget_zip" data-validate="zip" data-validation-type="text" class="mauticform-field-6 mauticform-required mauticform-row mauticform-text" style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;"><label id="mauticform_label_wswsnewsletterconversionqualifiedleadconversionwidget_zip" for="mauticform_input_wswsnewsletterconversionqualifiedleadconversionwidget_zip" class="mauticform-label" style="margin: 0px 0px 3px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.1em; display: block; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(43, 43, 43);">Zip</label><input id="mauticform_input_wswsnewsletterconversionqualifiedleadconversionwidget_zip" name="mauticform[zip]" value="" placeholder="Zip" class="mauticform-input" type="text" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.8em; width: 205px; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-shadow: rgb(255, 255, 255) 0px 0px 0px inset; border-top-left-radius: 4px; border-top-right-radius: 4px; border-bottom-right-radius: 4px; border-bottom-left-radius: 4px; font-size: 16px;"></div><div id="mauticform_wswsnewsletterconversionqualifiedleadconversionwidget_informed_consent" data-validate="informed_consent" data-validation-type="checkboxgrp" class="mauticform-checkboxgrp mauticform-required mauticform-row mauticform-field-7" style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;"><div class="mauticform-checkboxgrp-row" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><label id="mauticform_checkboxgrp_label_informed_consent_Yes0" for="mauticform_checkboxgrp_checkbox_informed_consent_Yes0" class="mauticform-checkboxgrp-label" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; font-weight: bold;"><input class="mauticform-checkboxgrp-checkbox" name="mauticform[informed_consent][]" id="mauticform_checkboxgrp_checkbox_informed_consent_Yes0" type="checkbox" value="Yes" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> I would like to be contacted by the Socialist Equality Party or the WSWS. I acknowledge that the WSWS uses my personal information in accordance with its <a href="https://www.wsws.org/en/special/privacy.html" target="_blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(68, 86, 137); text-decoration: none;" class="">privacy policy</a>. </label></div></div><div id="mauticform_wswsnewsletterconversionqualifiedleadconversionwidget_submit" class="mauticform-row mauticform-button-wrapper mauticform-field-8" style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;"><button type="submit" name="mauticform[submit]" id="mauticform_input_wswsnewsletterconversionqualifiedleadconversionwidget_submit" value="" class="mauticform-button btn btn-default" style="margin: 0px; padding: 12px 16px; font-weight: 600; vertical-align: middle; cursor: pointer; border: rgb(204, 0, 0); white-space: nowrap; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.3856; border-top-left-radius: 3px; border-top-right-radius: 3px; border-bottom-right-radius: 3px; border-bottom-left-radius: 3px; -webkit-user-select: none; color: rgb(255, 255, 255); background-color: rgb(204, 0, 0); width: 205px;">Submit</button></div></div></div></form></div></div></div><p style="margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.36em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class="">Most of those killed by state forces belong to the ethnic Peuhl, or Fullani, community, which are predominately Muslim. Because of this, they are accused of being more sympathetic to recruiters for ISIS.</p><p style="margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.36em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class="">It is increasingly clear that the strategy of the European powers is based on the stoking of ethnic conflict between the Fulani and Dogons. The different ethnicities have long existed peacefully side by side in the same towns throughout the region. Since the launching of the war in Mali by France in August, 2014, however, a series of increasingly horrific ethnic massacres have taken place. Local security forces are widely reported to have armed and supported Dogon militia as part of the war against ISIS, and turned a blind eye to sectarian massacres.</p><p style="margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.36em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class="">In central Mali alone, HRW claims that it has documented the killing of 800 civilians in dozens of large-scale massacres of Peuhl citizens, and numerous killings of civilians by armed Peuhl groups and Islamists.</p><p style="margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.36em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class="">On February 14, 2020, a Dogon militia killed 35 villagers in the town of Ogossagou, the same location of a massacre of more than 150 people a year before, on March 23, 2019. It occurred within hours of a Malian security detail departing that had been stationed there since the previous year’s massacre.</p><p style="margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.36em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class="">The government has inexplicably claimed that the decision to stop protection of the village was a “tactical error.” According to a report in May by HRW, they withdrew without providing any explanation to the town’s inhabitants. Within hours villagers began to see a build-up of armed men in the Dogon neighborhood. They made calls to high-level Malian authorities, including government ministers, and to the UN peacekeeping mission, requesting protection.</p><p style="margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.36em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class="">“Among those they said they contacted were security force personnel—including gendarme and army personnel—based in Bankass, just 15 kilometers away,” the report stated. In addition, “a witness who had attended a meeting of high-level government and MINUSMA officials said … three ministers, including the defense and security ministers, had been contacted in the early evening of February 13 to raise the alarm about the likelihood of an attack.” The massacre was allowed to occur.</p><p style="margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.36em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class="">For European imperialism, such sectarian killings serve not only to terrorize the local population, but to provide a “human rights” rationale for maintaining a permanent occupation of the region. The Sahel contains not only contain uranium deposits that supply France for its energy production. The region is situated in a geographically important area of western Africa where European imperialism is seeking to hold back growing economic and diplomatic activity influence of China.</p><p style="margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.36em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class="">With criminal recklessness, French and German imperialism are following the strategy pursued by United States in its occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan, which destroyed entire societies and led to the deaths of over one million people and the forced emigration of tens of millions.</p><p style="margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.36em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class="">In a war-mongering July 6 column published in <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">Le Monde,</em> the German Social Democratic Party deputy Nils Schmid declared that “contrary to the anti-jihadist operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, led by the United States, France and Germany carry the principal responsibility for what is happening in the Sahel. We therefore cannot abdicate responsibility to the Americans or pull out our troops free of charge!”</p><p style="margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.36em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class="">Indeed, France and Germany are using the occupation of the Sahel as a testing ground for the methods developed by the United States in its decades-long “war on terror” in the Middle East. France is already operating armed drones from Niger for targeted assassinations. Germany is planning to deploy drones to the region. French President Emmanuel Macron travelled to Mauritania on June 30 to an international summit with the G5 leaders to announce a further intensification of the intervention and even closer collaboration with the G5.</p><p style="margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.36em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class="">The latest HRW report has received scant coverage in the French-language media and no comment from the French government. One can only imagine the wall-to-wall media editorials, government denunciations, and threats of sanctions that would follow if such documented atrocities were committed by militaries working with the armies of Iran, China or Russia.</p><div class=""><a href="http://wsws.org/" class="">WSWS.ORG</a></div><div class="campaign" style="margin: 20px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10px;"><div data-track-content="" data-content-name="End of article" data-content-piece="default" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class=""></div></div><div id="article-tools" style="margin: 2em 0px 0px; padding: 5px; border-top-width: 1px; border-top-style: dotted; border-top-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10px;" class=""><p style="margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.3em; line-height: 1.3em; display: inline-block; font-weight: 700;" class="">Share this article:</p></div></div></div></blockquote></div><br class=""></body></html>