AFRICA/MALI - Women and children are the main victims of violence in the north of the country

Bamako (Agenzia Fides) - The plight of women victims of sexual violence continues to worsen in northern Mali. They have no human rights, cannot work, study nor have access to basic social structures. Since last January, the country live a guerrilla war between government forces and Tuareg rebels; the instability and the state of insecurity result from the ongoing fighting, as well as the proliferation of armed groups in the region, drought and political instability have made about 250 000 Malians escape to neighboring countries, 174 000 are internally displaced people. According to the Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations for Human Rights, the civil and political rights have been limited by a very strict interpretation of the Koranic law of the Sharia, and by systematic cruel and inhuman punishment, including murder, mutilation, and stoning. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) reported that, in the north of the country, children cannot study because many teachers have fled and schools have been forced to close. In addition, extreme poverty, lack of employment and education, facilitate the recruitment of the young victims in the armed forces of Islamic groups.
In order to enforce the human rights of women and offer them some opportunities, it is essential to adopt appropriate measures to promote their participation in public life. They may play an important role in the process of peace-building as well as for the prosperity of the country. Currently, according to the OHCHR, in these areas women can be bought for less than $ 1000. Even the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross is well aware of the humanitarian crisis and the violation of human rights will soon travel to Mali and then to Niger. The Islamist group Ansar al-Dine, the Movement for Unity, the Yihad in West Africa, and Al Qaeda for Islamic Maghreb Islamic have had total control of the north of Mali for several months, which accounts for two thirds of the national territory. The majority of aid organizations operating in this area have been forced to leave due to threats, only the the Red Cross has been able to maintain in a totally extraordinary way its activities from its base of operations in Niger. The division "de facto" in Mali, between north and south, means that the military cannot enter in the first region, where the humanitarian organization provides assistance to more than half a million people, the fourth part of its inhabitants. (AP) (Agenzia Fides 12/10/2012)