Insurgents impose Sharia in some villages in Mali, human rights group warns

A human rights organization has warned that Islamic extremists have imposed Sharia or Islamic law in several villages in Mali, threatening the villagers not to celebrate weddings or baptisms.

In a report published on Tuesday, Human Rights Watch (HRW) stated that several Islamic terrorist groups, such as Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), Ansar Dine, the Macina Liberation Front and the Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO), are committing human rights abuses in the central and northern regions of Mali.

The organization stated that the Malian government has largely been unable to protect civilians in the region from the insurgents, who have increasingly imposed restrictions on village life and executed numerous people.

"The human rights climate grew increasingly precarious over the past year, a result of execution-style killings and intimidation by Islamist armed groups, bloody intercommunal clashes, and surges in violent crime," Corinne Dufka, associate Africa director of HRW, said in a statement.

"The government's failure to assert control and curtail security force abuses has added to the deteriorating situation," she added.

HRW has interviewed over 70 victims of abuses and violence in Mali, including members of four different ethnic groups, U.N. officials, diplomats and people who have been detained by the government.

The group stated that at least 27 people were executed by Islamic groups in 2016. Most of the victims were local government officials, security personnel, village chiefs and fighters from parties to the peace accord.

Villagers have recounted how Islamic groups of up to 50 armed fighters, including teenage boys, occupied their villages for hours and threatened to kill anyone collaborating with French forces, the government of U.N. peacekeepers, according to the report.

"Our traditional customs are no longer allowed because of the presence of jihadist fighters from our own villages. Our way of celebrating is now haram [forbidden]," said one villager, describing a wedding he attended in the Segou region in December.

Another villager said that families were forced to hand over their children to the armed groups in central Mali.

HRW has documented as many as 400 incidents of banditry in 2016. At least eight people were killed and over 30 were wounded by armed bandits, who routinely targets animal herders, traders and public vehicles. Victims have said that the crimes committed against them were rarely investigated by the government.

"The authorities need to do much more to fulfill their responsibility to protect civilians in north and central Mali," Dufka said, adding, "After so many years of insecurity, civilians deserve to see more security dividends from the peace process."

Mali has been ranked on the Open Doors World Watch List as the 32nd worst country to live in as a Christian. It jumped 12 spots from its previous rank last year when it placed 44th on the list.