On Sunday, May 30, ECOWAS’s heads of state gathered in Accra for an extraordinary summit on the situation in Mali. The regional organization announced diplomatic sanctions against Mali. Aljoner Tine, founder of the think tank AfrikaJom Center, an independent UN human rights expert in Mali, answers Charlotte Cosset’s questions.
RFI: The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) announces serious action, in particular the suspension of Mali from the organization. Are you surprised by such an action?
Alione Tine:Not at all. I think this is the least that ECOWAS could do in relation to the situation in Mali, and especially what we consider to be a double coup in the transition. I am not surprised because ECOWAS is facing a dilemma. Mali has only one institution, the transitional government, and this structure must be saved in order for it to continue. Where we support ECOWAS ‘decision is to ask for the release of all detainees: the Prime Minister’s staff, the President’s staff and even today, I add, in matters of respect for human rights, respect for legal proceedings, really to ensure that the President and the Prime Minister [Bah N’Daw et Moctar Ouane] who are under house arrest are completely free from their movements. That human rights issues have also been emphasized by ECOWAS ‘Heads of State, which is excellent from my point of view.
Are you satisfied with the announced measures?
We are not happy. There is still some concern, as this coup was first validated by Mali’s constitutional court, it raises concerns for lawyers that we are, even validated by ECOWAS, which also created a deep discomfort. This discomfort is there compared to the Democrats that we should see that, in fact, more and more, there is still the constitutional order that is violated and that they do not get appropriate answers compared to ECOWAS and also the texts. of the African Union. We are violating the texts, we are violating the principles, we are violating the values by validating the coup and by the Constitutional Court and also by ECOWAS. We expected targeted sanctions. They did not come. We also expected economic sanctions, ECOWAS was in a dilemma where Mali is in such a sensitive situation that these sanctions could effectively jeopardize the current government.
With regard to this repeal,what will this mean concretely for Mali and for the region?
Malia’s Head of State will not attend ECOWAS or the African Union meetings, if he does, he will be an observer. Let us say that it is a sanction of principle that happens every time there is a coup and it is still part of the sacred principles. Only Chad escaped this principle for geopolitical reasons, and this must have really encouraged the Malian colonels to carry out a coup as well.
Some observers have been very critical of the Chadian attack. Do you think this influenced the decision?
Absolutely because there are dividing lines within ECOWAS. Also within ECOWAS, the people of the G5 Sahel [Mauritanie, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Tchad] will be more or less united. Of course, the situation in Chad has really affected the attitude of the Malian soldiers, because they know that we will not go too far in the sanctions. They more or less expected the shutdown. The soldiers still took the lead by meeting civil society, by meeting the people of the M5-RFP and also by immediately trying to prepare for the appointment of a Prime Minister who will surely come from the M5-RFP. All this to be ready to give the impression of a completely normal transition, of a transition in continuity.
ECOWAS confirms the need to respect the transition period and to organize the elections on February 27 next year, 2022, do you think it is sustainable?
From my point of view, this will not be sustainable. It will be difficult, because it is not so easy to make choices, to prepare. I think they will ask for an extension of the transition, that’s for sure.
And do you think that this decision will affect security cooperation in the sub-region?
I believe that in reality it is also to avoid a breach of security cooperation in the sub-region and especially also in relation to France, according to some comments from the President. [Emmanuel] Macron. I think Barkhane’s departure today could create a terrible vacuum. I believe that the decisions that have now been made make it possible not only to save the face but also to save the situation in Mali, to continue security cooperation and to allow us to be much more effective on the ground.
Is a rapid normalization of relationships possible?
Oh no. Conditions will be normalized when there is a presidential election with a democratically elected president. This is how it usually works when countries are shut down. Therefore, it is the return to constitutional order that enables normal relations between Mali and ECOWAS.
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