Paris — West Africa’s Sahel region experienced a surge in violence and a rollback of free expression last year, according to Amnesty International’s latest annual report released on Tuesday. The organization highlighted that 2022 was especially grim for Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, where civilian killings rose sharply compared with 2021. “We are talking about 9,000 civilians killed due to the conflict—a 54 % increase compared with 2021,” said Ousmane Diallo, Sahel researcher at Amnesty’s Dakar office. He added that the governments of these three countries are increasingly disregarding human‑rights standards.
One notable development in 2022 was the growing presence of the Wagner Group, a private Russian mercenary company, in parts of the region. Both Mali and Burkina Faso have also experienced coups d’état over the past two years. “There is certainly a strong link between these military takeovers and some of the abuses of human rights… particularly freedom of expression and press freedom in Mali and Burkina Faso, which have been under strong attacks by these military governments,” Diallo explained. He cited the case of Malian journalist Malick Konaté, who was forced into exile after reportedly filming footage for French TV that showed Wagner’s presence in Mali. “The situation of Malick Konaté is not unique. Many journalists, human‑rights defenders and political actors have been forced into exile due to attacks on freedom of expression and press freedom,” he said.
Even Senegal, often regarded as one of West Africa’s most successful democracies, has seen a decline in civil‑liberty scores, according to Diallo. President Macky Sall is considering a third term, which the opposition claims would be unconstitutional. “The situation in Senegal has dramatically worsened over the last two years. We have witnessed numerous abuses against the right to peaceful assembly—opposition protests and civil‑society actions are frequently rejected by authorities on vague grounds of public order. Freedom of expression and press freedom have also been eroded,” he noted.
Amnesty also condemned forced deportations carried out under migration‑control agreements, citing Algeria’s expulsion of thousands of sub‑Saharan African migrants to northern Niger in recent years. Reports indicate many deportees are abandoned in the desert with little food or water. Algeria has denied the accusations, describing them as “malicious.”
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