Mali’s military government has declared the director of the human rights department of the UN mission Minusma an undesirable person in the country.
UN official Guillaume Ngefa-Atondoko Andali is to leave Mali’s military government within 48 hours, according to a government statement published on Sunday evening. The junta accused Andali of “destabilizing and subversive acts”.
He chose “impostors” as civil society representatives of Mali for meetings of the UN Security Council and “ignored the national authorities and institutions”, most recently at the meeting on January 27th. A representative of civil society had complained about violence by terrorists as well as human rights violations by the Malian military and its “Russian partners” before the highest body of the United Nations. The Malian government accused Andali of a “conspiracy” to denigrate the country.
“We regret the decision of the Malian government, but Minusma will continue to exercise its mandate, including with regard to human rights,” a high-ranking UN official in New York told the German Press Agency on Sunday (local time).
