Mali: UN expert to assess rights under new Government

French

GENEVA (28 September 2018) - Alioune Tine, the UN’s Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in Mali, will visit the country from 1 to 10 October 2018 to assess human rights following the formation of a new Government on 9 September.

“I will be talking about all human rights including economic, social and cultural rights as well as civil and political rights,” Tine said. “I would like to assess whether the reduction of poverty, the fight against impunity, the protection of civilians in the context of growing insecurity in the centre and north of the country are priorities for this Government. I would also like to assess what steps are being taken to tackle these problems.

“I have noted that the fight against terrorism and crime is one of the priorities of the new Government, but I would like to gauge whether a comprehensive approach based on human rights will be adopted,” said the expert. “Mali faces enormous and multifaceted challenges and I would like to see if there are strategies in place to deal with them.”

During his mission, the Independent Expert will meet with the Malian authorities, the diplomatic corps, representatives of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Mission for Stabilization of Mali (MINUSMA) and UN agencies, human rights defenders, and civil society organisations.
Tine will present his findings in a report to the Human Rights Council in March 2019.

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Mr. Alioune Tine (Senegal) took office as independent expert on the human rights situation in Mali on 1 May 2018. The mandate of independent expert was renewed by the Human Rights Council on 23 March 2018 for a period of one year to assist the Government of Mali in its actions to promote and protect human rights and in the implementation of the recommendations made in Council resolutions . Mr. Tine was a founding member and President of the African Meeting for the Defense of Human Rights (RADDHO) and Coordinator of the Forum of African NGOs at the World Conference against Racism in 2000. Between 2014 and 2018 Mr. Tine was Amnesty International's Regional Director for West and Central Africa. He has published many articles and studies on literature and human rights.

Recent reports from the Independent Expert.

The independent experts are part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. The Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the United Nations human rights system, is the general term applied to the Council's independent investigative and monitoring mechanisms that address specific situations. countries or thematic issues around the world. Special Procedures experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not part of the UN staff and they do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent of governments and organizations and perform their functions independently.

UN human rights - Mali home page

For additional information and media inquiries, please contact Brian Ruane (+41 22 928 9724 / bruane@ohchr.org)

In Bamako (during the visit): Guillaume Ngefa (+223 94950226 / ngefa@un.org)

For media inquiries related to other UN independent experts please contact: Mr. Jeremy Laurence, UN Human Rights – Media Unit (+41 22 917 9383 / jlaurence@ohchr.org)

This year is the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the UN on 10 December 1948. The Universal Declaration – translated into a world record 500 languages – is rooted in the principle that “all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.” It remains relevant to everyone, every day. In honour of the 70th anniversary of this extraordinarily influential document, and to prevent its vital principles from being eroded, we are urging people everywhere to Stand Up for Human Rights: www.standup4humanrights.org