In Mali, the crisis of 2012 has created new hotbeds of tension in the center of the country and the responses of the State are not exempt from criticism against the current security situation. On the contrary, the amalgams and the support of the armed forces over militias is increasing the stigmatization of the Fulani community, according to « Challenges and Dangers of a Neglected Crisis », a study by the Macina Institute carried out by The Malian editorialist Adam Thiam.
Discovery of a dozen Fulani dead in a well in 2012 in Douentza, the various sweep operations of the army accompanied by arbitrary arrests between 2013 and 2015 or the operation Seno in 2016 taint, according to the study, the attitude of the Malian armed forces in the center.
« Many of the interlocutors, including some currently serving in official positions in Bamako, recognize that these blunders only heighten the resentment of the Fulani community towards the authorities and, above all, a factor of radicalization which certainly benefits Hamadoun Kouffa, », says the document.
Today, the massive recruitment of the terrorist Amadou Kouffa in the Fulani community is accentuating this amalgam. Despite the assurances of the military authorities warning against any form of abuses, no soldier has been brought to justice in connection with the recent events in the center of the country. Something that according to the study could « reassure the Fulani community that it is not the object of stigmatization on the part of the state ».
Another factor contributing to the deterioration of the security situation is the formation of militias by traditional leaders or the use by the State of certain militias to track down terrorists. Like those of traditional hunters.
« Originally, their elements would have been used as scouts of the army before they constituted in militia, themselves engaged the fighting. Their success would have convinced the Malian authorities to benefit from their support », stresses Adam Thiam. As an example, the editorialist cites the death of Aboubacar El Chenguetti, AQIM executive, by the Somboro militia, then led by Theodore Somboro, or the hand that the militia carried to the army during a tense ambush in May 2016 in the forest of Ségué.
Military successes that have consequences on the social cohesion in this area, which concentrates innumerable ethnic groups in the country. « These militias operate as a palliative, tragically illustrating the weakness of the state that they can not in any way compensate for its capacity to restore confidence with the citizens », warns Mr. Thiam.
Aboubacar Dicko