Mali junta expels UN mission's human rights chief

Mali's ruling junta said Sunday that it was expelling the head of the human rights division of MINUSMA, the UN mission there, giving him 48 hours to leave the country.

The decision comes after a Malian rights activist last month denounced the security situation in the country in a speech to a UN gathering, and accused the regime's new Russian military partners of serious rights violations.

The foreign ministry had declared Guillaume Ngefa Atonodok Andali, head of MINUSMA's human rights section, persona non grata, said a statement issued by government spokesman Colonel Abdoulaye Maiga.

"This measure comes after the destabilising and subversive actions of Monsieur Andali," added the statement, which was also read out on national television news.

Andali had taken it upon himself to decide who were the representatives of civil society, ignoring the authorities and national institutions, the statement added.

"Andali's bias was even more evident during the last review of the United Nations Security Council on Mali", the statement added.

On January 27, Aminata Cheick Dicko criticised the regime at a special UN Security Council briefing on Mali.

MINUSMA was set up in 2013 to try to stabilise Mali in the face of the growing threat from jihadist fighters.

Its mission also included the protection of civilians, contributing to peace efforts and defending human rights.

But the security situation has continued to deteriorate in the west African country.

The military regime has repeatedly blocked MINUSMA's attempts to investigate growing reports of human rights abuses carried out by the armed forces.

***AFP***