United Nations Human Rights Council

Republic of Mali

The issues before the Republic of Mali are:

1. The Use of Torture and Degrading Treatment to War Prisoners
2. The Violation of Rights of Refugees

I. The Use of Torture and Degrading Treatment to War Prisoners

The Republic of Mali shows its deep commitment to the global fight against
torture and degrading treatment to war prisoners not only on humanitarian
and moral grounds, but on the grounds that evidence extracted by torture can
be unreliable and that the use of torture corrupts institutions which
tolerate it. Having ratified the UN Convention against Torture, the Republic
of Mali agrees not to intentionally inflict severe pain or suffering on
anyone, to obtain information or a confession, to punish them, or to coerce
them or a third person. Moreover, according to the U.S. Department of
State's annual human rights report for 2003, Mali's government generally
respects the human rights of its citizens and of citizens of other
countries, including POW and observes relevant constitutional provisions and
prohibitions (e.g., arbitrary arrest and detention, forced exile, torture,
and discrimination based on race, sex, disability, language, or social
status). Mali is perfectly aware of the need of interstate co-operation to
face this challenge and therefore reaffirms its willingness to further
strengthen bilateral and multilateral agreements with its partners. Being an
independent, sovereign and stable state with a leader role in a region that
is most vulnerable to political and military instability, Mali, however,
observes with concern the attempts of other powers in Western Africa to
influence the policy of the government of the Republic of Mali against
torture and re-voices its call for an egalitarian co-operation in the fight
against torture.
Therefore, the Republic of Mali, complying with the United Nations
Convention against Torture, the Geneva Convention IV and its additional
protocols:
1. Recalls the need to force countries into stopping the use of torture by
implementing sanctions whenever international law of human rights and the
international definition of torture are broken.
2. Reaffirms Mali’s particular responsibility in the regional fight against
torture and degrading treatment to war prisoners.
3. Promote the creation of public awareness of torture and its negative
outcomes, in order to flash the international opinion on the nation which is
utilizing torture.
4. Encourages the ban of international torturing devices from international
trade, making them illegal of both exports and imports to all the nations
which embrace human rights.
5. Recalls the need to reinforce the punishment and regulatory system
against governments and prison officials that carry out torture and
degrading treatment against war prisoners.
6. Encourages the promotion of a higher level of transparency to show and
prove the application of torture through the establishment of an
International Monitoring System.

II. The Violation of Rights of Refugees

Having hosted some 12,000 refugees and asylum-seekers, mainly form Cote d’
Ivoire, Mauritania and Sierra Leone and having experienced widespread
displacement and refugees’ and returnees’ spontaneous movements within its
borders as a consequence of the September 2002 army mutiny in Cote d’Ivorie,
the Republic of Mali is perfectly aware of the dangers to which refugees and
returnees who began crossing the its border could be subjected and therefore
most willing to contribute to dam up the potential violation of the rights
of refugees and returnees as well as asylum-seekers and IDPs . By helping
refugees to become self-sufficient in both rural and urban areas, by
developing activities in education focused on providing support to schools,
by promoting awareness activities on sexual and gender violence (SGBV) and
HIV/AIDS and training sessions on the rights of refugees and emergency
management under the patronage of the UNHCR, the Republic of Mali is proud
to have fulfilled the commitments it made to stop and prevent the violation
of the rights of refugees , in accordance with the 1951 United Nations
Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, the 1967 Protocol relating to
the Status of Refugees and the 1969 OAU Convention governing the specific
aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa .
Given the enormous costs of the process of repatriation of refugees and
reintegration of IDPs and returnees and the economic, ethnic and political
problems some countries in Western Africa still face, Mali expresses its
gratitude to the sponsors of the process and recalls the need for further
financial contribution to achieve success in these processes and in the
protection of these people.

The Republic of Mali therefore:

1. Suggests analyzing the experiences gained in the past decade in helping
refugees and asylum-seekers to become self-sufficient.
2. Recalls the rich nations of the world to further sponsor costly projects
in this field in Western Africa and other regions of the world.
3. Encourages the creation of assistance measures designed to facilitate the
reintegration of returnees and to support those displaced (e.g. distributing
food and non-food items, working to maintain sanitation, water points and
latrines and to reduce the risk of communicable diseases).
4. Calls attention to the importance of a coordinated repatriation process
accompanied by major social and economic transformations.
5. Emphasizes the importance of persistent international protection and
life-sustaining assistance for long-staying refugees, since repatriation and
resettlement as durable solutions remain politically sensitive.
6. Offers to share its experience in the peaceful repatriation
of returnees and integration of IDPs and invites everybody to a mutual
satisfying co-operation in this area.