A French army convoy leaves camp on November 2, 2013, near Gao in northern Mali. AFP PHOTO/PHILIPPE DESMAZES
Mali President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita seems to be getting a jump on one of his main campaign promises — national reconciliation — with a symbolic visit from March 17 to March 19 to the flashpoint region of Mopti, enclosed between the country’s divided north and south. (Key word: seems.) The trip coincides with the launch of a National Assembly debate about a Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission that would primarily explore human rights abuses committed during the unrest of the past two years, i.e., a military coup in Bamako that was followed by a Tuareg separatist insurgency in the north, which was in turn superseded by a jihadist occupation.
Source: The Economist
On the agenda for Keita, who is commonly referred to as IBK, are visits to the garrison towns of Sévaré and Konna, where the president will pay homage to soldiers killed there by jihadist militants. But while the trip may have all the strappings of a symbolic presidential visit, it falls short of a concrete step towards reconciliation. Some 300 miles short, in fact, of the 15th parallel dividing north from south. Six months after taking office, IBK has yet to visit Mali’s arid northern region, notably the provincial capitals of Timbuktu, Kidal, and Gao, which were all the taken in sieges by Islamist fighters.
Jihadist cells have re-emerged in all three towns, one year after France launched a military intervention to liberate the region. Despite IBK’s pledge to foster ties between the south and the historically impoverished north — echoed notably to skittish foreign investors — a chasm remains between the nation’s two halves. Ethnic reprisals continue against Arabs and Tuaregs, whom many blame for opening the door to jihadists; some 30 Tuaregs were killed near Gao last month. Despite agreeing to reconciliation in principle, Tuareg separatists remain reluctant, at times hostile, in their negotiations with Bamako.
IBK’s failure to advance the reconciliation process hasn’t gone unnoticed. Mali’s main Western ally France has criticized the president for his lack of credible gestures towards Tuareg groups, albeit quietly in an attempt to avoid the semblance of meddling. (See France’s uneasy Africa policy.) Within Mali, as well, initial enthusiasm for IBK has faded. In this vein, the proposed creation of a Truth Commission is being greeted tepidly by some — particularly since a similar group created by the interim government that proceeded IBK’s administration fizzled out with little effect. International watchdog Human Rights Watch has called for greater, and more diverse, representation of the Malian people within the commission, and cautioned that it should be independent from other branches of government.
With ethnic divisions still looming, it’s questionable whether any eventual truth commission can achieve much. At last not while Mali’s president is dragging his feet when it comes to bridging the north-south divide. If only to gain the stability necessary to reassure Mali’s Western backers, who have already pledged some $4 billion in aid, IBK will need to up his outreach to the north. We suggest a visit above the 15th parallel to start.
