23 June 2015
Spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human
Rights: Ravina Shamdasani
Location:
Geneva
Subject: Mali
We welcome the signing in Bamako last Saturday of the
Agreement for Peace and Reconciliation by the rebel Coordination des mouvements
de l'Azawad (CMA) group.
Particularly welcome is the stipulation in the agreement
that amnesty law may not be passed for serious human rights violations.
International law and UN policy are clear that amnesties are not permissible if
they prevent prosecutions of war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and
gross violations of human rights. Any amnesty may also not restrict the rights
of victims to an effective remedy and reparation. In a similar vein, we welcome
the proposed establishment of an international commission of inquiry to
investigate allegations of such crimes. For any peace to be sustainable,
justice and accountability must be prioritized.
We urge all parties to ensure that the agreement is
implemented in good faith. Our office will continue to provide advice to the
international follow-up committee (comité de suivi et d'évaluation) on human
rights issues, as well as providing assistance to the Government of Mali on
transitional justice, justice sector reform and other relevant areas.
We hope that the Malian people, who have suffered grave
human rights abuses and violations over the past three years, will be able to
see immediate results, with an end to fighting, killings, arbitrary arrests and
mass displacement. While major security challenges remain in the far north of
the country due to the existence of violent extremist groups and drug
traffickers, the peace deal ought to bring some measure of calm, some
restoration of law and order, and enable badly-needed economic development.
ENDS
For more information and media requests, please contact
Ravina Shamdasani (+41 22 917 9169 / rshamdasani@ohchr.org ) or Cécile Pouilly
(+41 22 917 9310 / cpouilly@ohchr.org).
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