The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and Amnesty International condemn the extrajudicial executions of around 20 civilians committed, according to witnesses, by the Malian armed forces (FAMa) accompanied by Dozo militia fighters in Diafarabé, a commune in the cercle of Ténenkou in the Mopti Region.
The two organizations are calling on Malian judicial authorities for an independent, impartial and diligent investigation to shed light on these incidents and bring the perpetrators to justice. FIDH and Amnesty International denounce the serious crimes repeatedly committed against civilians by the warring parties in the context of the conflict in Mali. The events that occurred in Diafarabé may constitute war crimes.
The two organizations are warning the international community and Mali’s international partners about the urgent need to take concrete measures to support both the fight against impunity and victims’ rights to truth, justice and reparations.
Initially, they arrested at least 30 people […] they released anyone who wasn’t Fulani.
A survivor
On Monday, 12 May, the day of the weekly market in Diafarabé, during a patrol around 10 Malian soldiers accompanied by Dozo militia fighters from Diafarabé and surrounding areas arrested at least 30 men at the local livestock market, according to witnesses interviewed by the two organizations. Though some were released immediately, between 23 and 27 men were taken, bound, blindfolded and transported onto canoes on the south bank of the river, before their throats were slit and their bodies buried in mass graves.
One survivor recounted: **“**On Monday, at around 11am, six soldiers in plain clothes arrived at the small livestock market, followed by uniformed FAMa soldiers. They surrounded the market and started arresting people. Initially, they arrested at least 30 people, but after quickly checking their ethnicity, they released anyone who wasn’t Fulani. They tied our arms and blindfolded us. They led us to the opposite bank, near the Danguere Mamba cemetery some distance from the village. Once we arrived at the place where they had already dug pits, the soldiers and the Dozo militia fighters began slitting people’s throats one by one. I wasn’t tied up properly, so I lowered the blindfold covering my eyes and saw them slitting the throat of my older brother, who was the third victim. I fled as they slit the fourth person’s throat. They tried to shoot me twice, but I managed to reach the river and swim across. I want to make it clear that Dozos, including some from Nouh Bozo, participated in these executions.”
Immediately after 12 May, the people of Diafarabé denounced the arrests and organized spontaneous protests to demand information about the fate of their husbands and relatives.
Some of us were able to identify our relatives from among the victims.
A member of the delegation that went to the site
One of the female protesters explained to FIDH and Amnesty International: “We tried to go to the scene of crime to see for ourselves because we had heard two gunshots, but the soldiers stopped us. They told us that the people who had been arrested were alive and promised to bring them back to us the next day. This did not happen. On 14 May, a delegation of military authorities came from Mopti to listen to the locals. That’s when we received confirmation that our loved ones were gone forever, because they acknowledged their execution and promised to punish the perpetrators.”
At around 5pm on 15 May, with the military’s permission, local councillors, traditional authorities and victims’ relatives crossed the river to view the victims’ remains.
One of the members of the delegation told FIDH and Amnesty International: “To prevent us from filming the crime scene and bodies, the military prevented us from carrying smartphones to the scene. When we arrived, we saw the stacked, rotting corpses of our slaughtered loved ones. Some of us were still able to identify our relatives from among the victims. There were about 22 bodies. When we returned, the women began the ritual mourning of their husbands because everyone now knew that they had been killed by the military.”
No denial from the Malian army
To date, the Malian army has neither confirmed nor denied the facts. In a press release dated 16 May, the Malian army chief of staff confirmed the visit of the commander of the field of operations on 14 and 15 May, which was “organized following the allegations of civilian disappearances on 12 May.” According to the army chief of staff, “the allegations are being taken very seriously by the military command [. . .] preliminary information gathered from locals will inform the gendarmerie’s investigation, which will make it possible to confirm or disprove the allegations.”
We regret that once the launch of an investigation has been announced, generally information on the results of the investigation or trial are not subsequently released.
Marceau Sivieude, Amnesty International’s Interim Regional Director for West and Central Africa
“In view of the seriousness of the alleged facts and the testimonies of victims and their relatives, we are calling on Malian authorities to conduct an independent, transparent and speedy investigation. It is essential to see such an investigation to the end, meaning with a trial before the courts having jurisdiction, to end the cycle of impunity and provide justice for the victims,” said Drissa Traoré, FIDH Secretary General.
“We regret that once the launch of an investigation has been announced, generally information on the results of the investigation or trial are not subsequently released. There has been a backlog of several emblematic court cases for several years. This time, we would like to believe that the prompt response from military authorities indicates a willingness to give effect to the rights of the Malian people to truth, justice and reparations,” said Marceau Sivieude, Amnesty International’s Interim Regional Director for West and Central Africa.
Background
Diafarabé (Cercle of Ténenkou, Mopti Region) is in an area where the Katiba Macina, affiliated with Jama’at Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin (JNIM), is active and exerts a strong influence over the villages. On 27 March 2025, JNIM claimed responsibility for an ambush on a joint patrol of FAMa and Dozo militia fighters between Diafarabé and Nouh-Bozo. According to local and humanitarian sources, the ambush resulted in the deaths of 11 soldiers, including an officer, and 30 Dozo militia fighters.Several Diafarabé locals had also been arrested before the 12 May roundups. Locals continue to be concerned about the fate of nine other individuals arrested on 6 and 13 April 2025. According to information cross-checked by FIDH and Amnesty International, it appears at least four of them were also executed, and five are in detention in Ségou. According to a Diafarabé resident, without any “hope of seeing them again,” “their wives have already begun grieving them.”
As part of Operation Dougoukoloko launched on 25 April 2025, a contingent of FAMa soldiers arrived in Diafarabé on 10 May to take over. The purpose of this operation, under the leadership of the armed forces chief of staff, is to “restore the State of Mali to its sovereign functions across the entire country,” according to the decree establishing it. The central field of this operation in the area where the Diafarabé incident occurred, covering the regions of Ségou, San, Mopti, Bandiagara, Douentza, Timbuktu and Taoudéni, was reorganized on 8 May, in the presence of the deputy army chief of staff.