crimes against humanity

Mali: UN report on Moura massacre reveals rape, torture, and executions

By Flore Monteau

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Posted on May 16, 2023 14:59

According to the UN, ‘at least 500 people’ were executed in Moura by the Malian army and Wagner. © FLORENT VERGNES / AFP.

Several accounts and testimonies from survivors of the massacre in Moura had already been collected by human rights organisations and various media outlets, including us. They reported the deaths of hundreds of civilians, summarily executed by the Malian Armed Forces (FAMa) and their Russian allies from the paramilitary group Wagner between March 27 and 31, 2022, during an “anti-terrorist operation” conducted in the village in central Mali.

Released on 12 May, the report by the UNHCR on the massacre presents the findings of a “special fact-finding mission” conducted by 12 human rights officers and four experts from the United Nations Police (UNIPOL), who conducted 157 individual interviews over seven months.

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