The director of MINUSMA’s human rights section was expelled by Mali’s ruling junta on Sunday, giving him 48 hours to leave.
In a UN speech last month, a Malian rights activist criticized the country’s security situation and accused the regime’s new Russian military partners of significant rights crimes.
According to government spokesman Colonel Abdoulaye Maiga, the foreign ministry labeled Guillaume Ngefa Atonodok Andali, chief of MINUSMA’s human rights unit, persona non grata.
“This measure comes after Monsieur Andali’s destabilizing and subversive conduct,” the statement said, also read on national television.
The statement said Andali had chosen civil society members without consulting authorities or national entities.
“Andali’s bias was even more clear during the previous UN Security Council review on Mali,” the statement said.
At a special UN Security Council Mali briefing on January 27, Aminata Cheick Dicko criticized the authorities.
MINUSMA was founded in 2013 to stabilize Mali amid Islamist threats.
It protected civilians, promoted peace, and defended human rights.
West African security has worsened.
The military leadership has frequently delayed MINUSMA’s investigations into rising claims of armed forces human rights abuses.
