The release of the French hostage, Sophie Pétronin, put the spotlight on Westerners still being held in the Sahel. But next to them, there are also an unknown number of Malian and Sahelin hostages. Hostage participation of premises that are much less mentioned.
This week, twenty people were kidnapped in the municipality of Farabougou, in the middle of the country. Nine of them were still selected this Sunday. These hostages, targeting anonymous Malians, are less talked about than Westerners or leading personalities such as the leader of the Malian opposition, Soumaïla Cissé, but they exist.
Hard to know their exact number, but for scientist Ibrahim Maïga, a researcher in Bamako for the ISS, it is a “significant” phenomenon. Although it sometimes obeys different logics kidnapping of foreigners: “We probably have dozens of hostages in the hands of these groups, either government officials or businessmen, but of course it responds to sometimes different logics. Very often, national hostages are held in areas not far from where they were captured. This is sometimes linked to their national hostage status, so the market value is often lower than for a Western hostage. ”
And for the researcher, the economic value of the hostage does not necessarily come into play during these kidnappings. “In negotiations on national hostages, ransom is not the most important criterion. Groups can use this detention either to obtain information or in retaliation for perceived or actual cooperation with other national and international armed forces. In the case of military hostages – as there are some – the groups place more emphasis on the release of prisoners or captured combatants. We talk less about prisoner exchanges, of course they get less media coverage, but they do exist, ”reminds Ibrahim Maïga.
.
