Bamako — A decisive shift is underway in how Mali’s conflict is being scrutinized. Amnesty International’s latest investigation, released on 28 September 2026, marks a turning point by directly accusing members of the Malian Armed Forces (FAMa), operating alongside foreign fighters from the Wagner group, of committing war crimes against civilians between 2023 and 2025. The report’s findings have injected new momentum into a long-stalled debate over impunity.
Momentum builds behind a landmark investigation
Titled “No one is spared,” the report draws on research conducted in Mauritania among Malian refugees. Amnesty International says it gathered testimony from 119 individuals originating from the Ségou, Mopti and Tombouctou regions. The organisation also cross-referenced these accounts with other sources and analysed information related to military operations.
The picture painted by the human rights body is stark: at least 34 civilians are believed to have been killed across seven Malian localities between June 2023 and December 2025 during operations attributed to Malian forces and their Wagner allies. Amnesty further cites cases of torture, forced disappearance, looting and destruction of civilian property.
A breakthrough in documenting civilian harm
The documented incidents are concentrated in Mali’s central and northern regions, particularly Ségou, Mopti and Tombouctou — areas severely affected by insecurity and armed group activity.
According to Amnesty International, some victims were killed while attempting to flee or after being detained. The organisation also reports cases where individuals were allegedly beheaded or burned. In Tin Adanda, in the Tombouctou region, four people are said to have been killed during a joint patrol conducted in February 2025.
A major concern raised in the report involves pastoral communities, notably Peul, Arab and Tuareg groups. Amnesty estimates that many victims belonged to these communities, accused or suspected of links to armed groups because of their origin or their presence in areas controlled or frequented by insurgents.
The organisation warns against what it sees as a dangerous generalisation: equating an entire community with armed groups could expose civilian populations to collective reprisals.
Drone strikes under scrutiny
The report also examines two drone strikes carried out in 2025 by Malian forces in the Tombouctou region. Amnesty claims they killed at least 23 people, including at least five children.
One of the most thoroughly documented cases concerns the Ejdeir market, struck on 16 March 2025. According to Amnesty, 16 people were killed and seven others injured. The organisation says it found no evidence establishing the presence of fighters or military objectives at the market at the time of the strike.
Malian authorities had stated they were targeting “meetings of terrorists.” Amnesty believes the geographic information provided by the authorities matches the location struck at Ejdeir. In the absence of a verified military target, the organisation considers such an attack could constitute a direct attack on civilians and should be investigated as a possible war crime.
This issue is especially sensitive in a conflict where Malian authorities present military operations as necessary to combat jihadist groups and other armed organisations. Amnesty’s report does not challenge, in principle, the authorities’ right to fight armed groups. It nonetheless stresses the obligation to respect international humanitarian law and protect civilian populations.
Torture allegations inside military bases
Another particularly grave section of the report concerns accusations of torture and ill-treatment of detainees.
Amnesty International says it interviewed 15 men who claimed to have suffered torture during joint patrols or in military bases located notably in Léré and Nampala. The organisation states their accounts were corroborated by witnesses who said they had observed torture involving around thirty people.
The methods described are especially violent: suspending detainees by their arms, simulating drowning, beating with metal bars or sticks, and electric shocks. According to Amnesty, five people died in military bases as a result of torture or poor detention conditions.
The report claims the acts were mainly committed by Wagner members, sometimes in the presence of Malian soldiers. Some individuals were allegedly held for days to months without being brought before a court, without access to legal assistance, or without being able to contact their families.
Wagner departs, Africa Corps remains
The report emerges as Russia’s presence in Mali has evolved. The Wagner group, present in the country since late 2021, was replaced in June 2025 by Africa Corps, a structure under the control of the Russian Ministry of Defence.
Amnesty International is therefore calling on Malian authorities to publicly clarify relations with Africa Corps and the oversight mechanisms applicable to its members. For the organisation, a change in structure must not translate into an absence of accountability when violations of international law are committed.
This evolution comes amid a profound transformation of Mali’s security policy. Since the 2020 coup, authorities have progressively strengthened military cooperation with Russia while reducing dependence on Western partners.
A crisis that extends beyond government forces
Amnesty International nonetheless stresses that the documented abuses cannot be attributed to a single side. In recent years, armed groups active in Mali have also been accused of serious violations of international humanitarian law.
The organisation recalls in particular that armed groups have committed unlawful killings, abductions and other abuses against civilian populations. This clarification matters in a complex conflict where multiple armed actors operate and civilians often find themselves caught between different forces.
The humanitarian situation remains worrying. According to data presented by Amnesty in its assessment of Mali, more than 2,036 schools were closed due to insecurity, depriving hundreds of thousands of children of access to education.
The question of impunity
Beyond the accusations themselves, the report raises a central question: that of justice.
Amnesty International says it submitted its findings to Malian authorities on 3 August 2026 and indicates it had received no response at the time of the report’s publication. The organisation calls on Bamako to open “effective and impartial” investigations into the alleged crimes and to prosecute, where evidence warrants, those responsible before courts respecting fair trial guarantees.
The judicial question takes on an additional dimension following Mali’s announced decision in June 2026 to withdraw from the Rome Statute, the founding treaty of the International Criminal Court. According to Amnesty, this withdrawal does not end proceedings already covered by the ICC’s jurisdiction: the court would retain jurisdiction over crimes within its mandate committed during the legally applicable period.
In this context, Amnesty International’s report appears less as a simple inventory of abuses than as a warning about the risk of entrenched impunity.
For civilian populations in Ségou, Mopti and Tombouctou, the challenge remains immediate: surviving a conflict where the distinction between combatants and civilians is often fragile. For Malian authorities, the accusations levelled by Amnesty now constitute an additional file that must be answered, in the name of protecting populations but also of the credibility of institutions responsible for delivering justice.
Because behind the statistics — 34 documented deaths, dozens of detainees tortured and dozens of other presumed victims — lies a reality harder to measure: that of displaced families, villages emptied of their inhabitants and a population that continues to live between the threat of armed groups and the operations of security forces.
Amnesty’s report thus recalls a fundamental requirement of international law: the fight against armed groups does not exempt any party to the conflict from protecting civilians. In Mali, the battle against insecurity is therefore also being fought on another terrain — that of justice, accountability and the protection of populations.
