Off the wire
• China on yellow alert for smog  • Foreign exchange rates in Singapore  • Armed women attack police headquarters in Istanbul  • 1st LD-Writethru: Chinese shares edge higher on firmer market sentiment  • China hopes new UN resolution on DPRK fully implemented  • State Council introduces guidelines on commercialization of research findings  • 2nd Ld: China's top political advisory body starts annual session  • Yuan stable against other currencies: new index  • China aims to transform old industrial areas by 2022  • Economic issues top political advisors' concerns: report  
You are here: 　 Home

UN expert calls for speedy implementation of Mali peace agreement

Xinhua, March 3, 2016 Adjust font size:

A United Nations independent expert on human rights Suliman Baldo has appealed for speedy implementation of Mali peace and reconciliation agreement.

"It is the primary responsibility of the signatories, in this case Mali government and armed groups in the North, to accelerate the peace process," Baldo said Wednesday when he addressed the press in Bamako at the end of the sixth mission to Mali between Feb. 21 to March 2, 2016.

This is necessary, he added, to guarantee respect for the rule of law, especially for the protection of civilians and restoration of normalcy in the central and northern regions of Mali.

The UN official said the security situation in Mali requires robust and decisive response on the part of Mali, regional countries and the international community.

If not, he warned, the human rights situation will not improve as is required and the population in affected regions will continue experiencing physical and food insecurity.

Baldo said he was concerned by the slow pace of progress in prosecuting those who have committed serious crimes since the start of the Mali crisis in 2012.

The expert equally deplored "delays" in adoption of measures envisaged in the peace agreement to reinforce devolution of power to regional and local authorities.

He said the delays benefited some groups that had an interest in destabilizing Mali and which have intensified their attacks against Mali forces and UN peacekeeping force.

Baldo said he was "saddened" by information in some parts of central and northern Mali of continued human rights violations committed against civilians by radicalized and armed youths."

"The insecurity in central and northern parts of Mali has denied the local residents an opportunity to enjoy their human rights and benefit from state services which have not yet been restored," the official said.

Baldo, who took over the position of independent expert on human rights situation in Mali on Aug. 1, 2013, will present his report on the situation in Mali to the UN Human Rights Council on March 22, 2016. Endit