UN ‘deeply dismayed’ at Mali media bans

The United Nations on Friday decried Mali’s decision to definitively suspend French broadcasters RFI and France 24, warning it was only the latest move to rein in press freedom in the Sahel nation.

“We are deeply dismayed by the Malian media regulator’s decision,” UN rights office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani told reporters in Geneva.

“We call on Mali’s transitional military authorities to reverse this ban and allow independent media to work freely in the country.”

RFI (Radio France Internationale) and France 24 cover African news extensively and have a strong following in the former French colony.

The definitive broadcast ban announced earlier this week came after diplomatic relations between Mali and its former colonial power France plunged to their lowest point in years amid disputes over democracy and the alleged presence of Russia-linked paramilitaries in the country.

The junta, which seized power in August 2020, said there had been “false accusations” in a report in mid-March in which RFI aired comments from alleged victims of abuse by the army and shadowy Russian private-security group Wagner.

Mali’s junta has also accused the UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet, and Human Rights Watch, of making false allegations against the government.

Paris, which last month announced the impending withdrawal of thousands of troops deployed in Mali under its anti-jihadist mission in the Sahel, called the suspension of the French media channels a grave attack on press freedom.

Shamdasani stressed that the suspensions were just “the latest in a string of actions curtailing press freedom and the freedom of expression in Mali.”

“The current climate is one with a pervasive chilling effect on journalists and bloggers,” she warned.

The media suspensions was particularly worrying, she said, since they “come at a time when more, not less, scrutiny is needed.”

“Our Office continues to document serious allegations of violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law in many parts of the country,” she said.

“We remain seriously concerned by steps to further shrink the already limited civic space.”