A Malian court has sentenced a man to death over the 2019 killing of three peacekeepers in the south of the country, the UN mission in Mali said on Wednesday. The Bamako criminal court convicted the accused — who was not named — on Tuesday of acts of terrorism, criminal association, murder, robbery and illegal possession of firearms, the UN mission said in a statement. The case related to the February 22, 2019 attack on five peacekeepers that left three of them dead. It took place on the road to Siby, a village 44 kilometres (27 miles) southwest of the capital Bamako. The death penalty has not been applied in Mali since a moratorium on executions was put in place in 1980.
The UN mission, known by its acronym MINUSMA, has come under increased pressure since France, which had been a major military presence in Mali for nine years, pulled its last troops out of the country in August. It was created in 2013 to help stabilise a state threatened with collapse under a jihadist onslaught — but the security situation in the country has continued to worsen.
In a report published this month, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said the mission is “unsustainable” without more personnel. As of mid-December, the mission had 12,388 military personnel (compared to 13,289 authorised under its UN mandate) and 1,598 police (compared to 1,920 authorised). “This trial is part of MINUSMA’s efforts to improve the judicial response to attacks against peacekeepers,” the mission said in the statement Wednesday. The mission has registered 165 deaths since 2013.
