Media sector in Mali witnesses steady recovery

The political crisis that erupted in the once stable and peaceful West African country of Mali in early 2012 led to significant deterioration of media and general human rights conditions in the country.

By Media Foundation for West Africa, Source: IFEX, 12 August 2013

Investigating the ‘War on Terror’ programme in Africa‏

CALL FOR STORY PROPOSALS: The ‘War on Terror’ (WoT) programme purports to sniff out, hunt and neutralise perpetrators of armed non-governmental attacks in countries such as Nigeria, Mali, Kenya and Somalia. Among  known movements who have claimed responsibility for such attacks are Boko Haram in Nigeria, AQIM and Salafists in Mali, and Al Shabaab in Kenya and Somalia.

Mali endures media blackout as journalists go on strike

Mali’s press has endured one attack too many. Since the coup d’état of March 22, 2012, CPJ has documented a staggering 62 anti-press violations across Mali. Journalists and media houses have become ready targets of attacks, threats, intimidation, assassination attempts, arbitrary arrests, detention, and censorship by separatist and Islamist militant groups and government security forces alike.

Mali rebels call for ICC investigation

Malian Tuareg rebels on Tuesday called on the International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website] to investigate alleged war crimes committed by Malian government forces during the recent conflict.

In Mali, a war ‘without images and without facts’

The French army is often called la Grande Muette, or “the Great Silent.” The war in Mali confirms the French military’s well-deserved reputation of being secretive about front-line actions. “Locking the information is more in the culture of the French army than of the U.S. army,” says Maurice Botbol, director of La Lettre du Continent. In the first two weeks of military operations against Islamist militant groups in Mali, the French army hasreleased only a blurry video of an air attack at an undisclosed location.

Mali Journalists Accuse Military of Tapping Telephones

Journalists in Mali are accusing the military authorities of illegally tapping their telephones as a means of silencing critical opinion in the country.  The accusation followed the arrest and subsequent detention of Birama Fall, managing editor of Le Prétoire, a privately-owned Bamako-based bi-weekly newspaper on May 12, 2012.

The battle for Mali’s north

By Bram Posthumus in Dakar – Since January 17th this year, the north of Mali is at war.  It started as an attack of armed Tuaregs on a Malian army barracks in Ménaka, near the border with Niger and has spread across all of Mali’s three desert regions: Timbuktu, Kidal and Gao.  The war zone is hundreds of kilometres large.

Tens of thousands flee Mali rebellion

In the aftermath of the Libyan rebellion, fighters and weapons flood West Africa.  Almost a month after Tuareg rebels launched a new assault against the southern government, tens of thousands of people have fled fighting in northern Mali, according to the International Committee for the Red Cross.  The ICRC says the fighting has also displaced families in Niger, with already disastrous humanitarian consequences.