Mali’s reckoning: Amnesty International’s landmark report demands justice for civilian victims
Bamako — A watershed moment has arrived in Mali’s long and brutal conflict. On 28 September 2026, Amnesty International released a landmark report that documents widespread war crimes allegedly committed against civilians between 2023 and 2025, marking a decisive turning point in how the international community confronts the violence that has gripped the country for more than a decade.
A damning indictment of military operations
Operating under the title “No one is spared,” the investigation draws on extensive field research conducted in Mauritania among Malian refugees. Amnesty International gathered testimony from 119 individuals hailing from the Ségou, Mopti and Tombouctou regions, cross-referencing their accounts with additional sources and analyses of military operations.
The findings paint a harrowing picture: at least 34 civilians were killed across seven Malian localities between June 2023 and December 2025 during operations attributed to the Malian Armed Forces (FAMa) and their Wagner allies. The report also documents torture, enforced disappearance, looting and destruction of civilian property.
Civilians caught in the crossfire
The documented abuses occurred primarily in Mali’s central and northern regions — Ségou, Mopti and Tombouctou — areas that have borne the brunt of insecurity and armed group activity.
According to the report, some victims were killed as they attempted to flee or after being apprehended. Amnesty International also recounts cases where individuals were allegedly beheaded or burned alive. In Tin Adanda, located in the Tombouctou region, four people were reportedly killed during a joint patrol conducted in February 2025.
Of particular concern is the targeting of pastoral communities, notably Peul, Arab and Tuareg populations. Amnesty International estimates that many victims belonged to these communities, accused or suspected of ties to armed groups simply because of their ethnicity or their presence in areas controlled or frequented by insurgents.
The organisation warns against what it views as a dangerous tendency to conflate entire communities with armed groups — a practice that could expose civilian populations to collective reprisals.
Drone strikes under scrutiny
The report also examines two drone strikes conducted in 2025 by Malian forces in the Tombouctou region. Amnesty International states they resulted in at least 23 deaths, including at least five children.
One of the most thoroughly documented cases involves the Ejdeir market, struck on 16 March 2025. According to the organisation, 16 people were killed and seven others wounded. Amnesty International maintains it found no evidence establishing the presence of combatants or military objectives at the market at the time of the strike.
Malian authorities had claimed they targeted “terrorist meetings.” Amnesty International notes that the geographical information provided by authorities corresponds to the location struck at Ejdeir. Without a verified military target, the organisation argues, such an attack could constitute a direct assault on civilians and should be investigated as a potential war crime.
This issue is especially sensitive in a conflict where Malian authorities frame military operations as essential to combating jihadist groups and other armed organisations. Amnesty’s report does not dispute the authorities’ right to fight armed groups in principle. It does, however, emphasise the obligation to respect international humanitarian law and protect civilian populations.
Torture allegations in military bases
Another deeply troubling dimension of the report concerns allegations of torture and ill-treatment of detainees.
Amnesty International says it interviewed 15 men who described being tortured during joint patrols or in military bases, particularly in Léré and Nampala. The organisation indicates their accounts were corroborated by witnesses who claimed to have observed acts of torture involving approximately 30 people.
The methods described are particularly brutal: suspending detainees by their arms, waterboarding, beatings with metal bars or sticks, and electric shocks. According to Amnesty International, five individuals died in military bases as a result of torture or harsh detention conditions.
The report states that these acts were primarily carried out by Wagner members, sometimes in the presence of Malian soldiers. Some individuals were held for periods ranging from several days to several months without being brought before a court, nor able to access legal assistance or contact their families.
From Wagner to Africa Corps: a shift in Russian presence
The report emerges as Russia’s presence in Mali has undergone significant change. The Wagner Group, active in the country since late 2021, was replaced in June 2025 by Africa Corps, a structure under the control of the Russian Ministry of Defence.
Amnesty International is calling on Malian authorities to publicly clarify their relationship with Africa Corps and the oversight mechanisms applicable to its members. The organisation insists that a change in structure must not translate into an absence of accountability when violations of international law occur.
This development unfolds against the backdrop of a profound transformation in Mali’s security policy. Since the 2020 coup, authorities have progressively strengthened military cooperation with Russia while reducing dependence on Western partners.
Beyond government forces: a complex conflict
Amnesty International nonetheless emphasises that documented abuses cannot be attributed to a single side. In recent years, armed groups active in Mali have also been accused of grave violations of international humanitarian law.
The organisation recalls that armed groups have committed unlawful killings, abductions and other abuses against civilian populations. This clarification matters in a complex conflict involving multiple armed actors, where civilians often find themselves caught between different forces.
The humanitarian situation remains deeply concerning. According to data presented by Amnesty International in its Mali assessment, more than 2,036 schools were closed due to insecurity, depriving hundreds of thousands of children of access to education.
The question of impunity
Beyond the accusations themselves, the report raises a central question: that of justice.
Amnesty International states it submitted its findings to Malian authorities on 3 August 2026 and indicates it had received no response at the time of publication. The organisation is urging Bamako to open “effective and impartial” investigations into the alleged crimes and to prosecute those responsible before courts that uphold fair trial guarantees when evidence warrants.
The judicial question takes on added significance following Mali’s announced decision in June 2026 to withdraw from the Rome Statute, the founding treaty of the International Criminal Court. According to Amnesty International, this withdrawal does not end proceedings already covered by the ICC’s jurisdiction: the court would retain jurisdiction over crimes within its mandate committed during the legally applicable period.
In this context, Amnesty International’s report appears less as a simple inventory of abuses than as a warning about the risk of entrenched impunity taking root.
For civilian populations in Ségou, Mopti and Tombouctou, the challenge remains immediate: surviving a conflict where the distinction between combatants and civilians remains dangerously blurred. For Malian authorities, the accusations levelled by Amnesty International now constitute an additional dossier that must be addressed — in the name of protecting populations, but also for the credibility of institutions responsible for delivering justice.
Behind the statistics — 34 documented deaths, dozens of detainees tortured and dozens of other presumed victims — lies a reality more difficult to measure: displaced families, villages emptied of their inhabitants, and a population living between the threat of armed groups and the operations of security forces.
Amnesty International’s report thus reaffirms a fundamental requirement of international law: the fight against armed groups does not exempt any party to the conflict from protecting civilians. In Mali, the battle against insecurity is therefore also being fought on another front — that of justice, accountability and the protection of populations.