No development-assistance without human rights and a political solution for the Tuareg issue

After the struggle against the radical Islamists, Europe should only provide development-assistance for Mail if the country complies with human rights regulations and shows efforts towards a political solution of the Tuareg-issue. This is what the Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) announced prior to the opening of the donors' conference of the European Union and France, which will take place in Paris on Wednesday. "Mali's government still shows little willingness to enter a dialogue with the Tuareg", critizised the STP's expert on questions regarding Africa, Ulrich Delius in Göttingen on Monday. "But if there is no political solution to the Tuareg-issue, northern Mali will not be safe." Even the European development projects would be in jeopardy. Mali's government hopes that the conference in Paris will settle on financial help worth two billion Euros.

The Malian government still prefers a military solution to the Tuareg-issue. A committee on possibilities for national reconciliations had only been established under pressure from the French government. Four months after the beginning of the French military intervention, the human rights situation in northern Mali is still precarious. More than 340 violent deaths of Tuareg and Arabs have not been clarified. At least 195 civilians were arrested or deported for political reasons – and most of them are still missing without a trace. Even in the south of the country, which is not embattled, the human rights situation is alarming. There are repeated violations of the freedom of the press and tens of thousands of small farmers are suffering from land grabs. Corruption and abuse of power are fueling the land rights disputes.

"The European Union seems to be willing to ignore all these problems, while Mali focuses on the presidential elections that are scheduled for July 2013," said Delius. "But there is no reason to believe that a new president would be able to fight corruption, stop the abuse of power or ensure that the human rights are respected."

"The main purpose of the reconstruction measures must be to enable the 440,000 refugees – the Tuareg, the Arabs and members of the other population who fled from the war in northern Mali – to return and try to re-integrate," said Delius. About 270,000 people live as IDPs in the south of the country, while 170,000 are waiting in the neighboring countries to be able to return. 74,000 refugees are located in Mauritania alone, hoping for the fighting and the human rights abuses in their home country to come to an end.

About 2,800 women who were raped during the war are in urgent need of more medical and psychological care. Also, Mali's justice system must be strengthened considerably, in order to investigate human rights violations committed by all the conflict parties in the north of the country and to allow just court procedures. There should also be projects towards reconciliations between the warring groups in northern Mali.