Junta bans media from political party coverage
Mali’s ruling military junta banned media coverage of political parties a day after suspending their activities, marking the latest crackdown on dissent in the West African nation.
Opposition voices have been largely stifled since the colonels seized power in a 2020 coup, overthrowing civilian president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita.
In a statement, Mali’s high authority for communication called on “all media [radio, television, written press and online] to halt broadcast and publication of the activities of political parties and the activities of a political nature of associations”.
It did not indicate what would happen to media organisations that did not observe the ban.
The move comes after authorities on Wednesday ordered the indefinite suspension of all political activities, saying it was needed to maintain public order.
Government spokesman Colonel Abdoulaye Maiga blamed the suspension of party activities on the “sterile discussions” during an attempt at national dialogue earlier this year.
“Subversive acts by political parties are multiplying,” according to a decree Maiga read out to reporters. He said the fight against armed jihadist and Tuareg separatist groups could not be reconciled by “sterile political debates”.
The latest crackdown has prompted numerous comments on social media but there was little reaction from parties or leading figures, already largely silenced.
Moussa Mara, who was prime minister from 2014 until 2015, urged authorities to reverse the decision, calling it a “major step backwards” that “does not promise a peaceful future”.
The president of the Convergence for the Development of Mali party, Housseini Amion Guindo, called for “civil disobedience until the fall of the illegal and illegitimate regime … due in particular to its inability to satisfy the essential needs of Malians”.
Under pressure from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the junta had promised to hold elections and hand power back to civilians by March 26, but no vote was organised.
The United Nations voiced alarm at the junta’s move to suspend political activities.
“We are deeply concerned by the decree suspending the activities of political parties and other civic associations,” the UN rights office said on X, formerly Twitter, insisting that “it must be immediately repealed”.
US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said: “Freedom of expression and freedom of association are critical to an open society. We call on Mali’s transition government to honour its commitments to its citizens and hold free and fair elections.”
Press freedom group Reporters Without Borders decried the ban as “a censorship measure that is part of the continuum of muzzling of information” under the junta.
Since seizing power in 2020, the junta has ended several international alliances, including with the European Union and former colonial power France, and fostered closer ties with Russia.
The military government last year ordered the withdrawal of the UN stabilisation mission MINUSMA, and in January ended a 2015 peace agreement with separatist groups in the north.
Neighbouring Sahel states Burkina Faso and Niger also underwent military coups in 2022 and 2023 respectively. The three countries have all pledged to leave ECOWAS in favour of their own Sahel alliance.
Freedom of expression and freedom of association are critical to an open society
MATTHEW MILLER, U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT