Western Countries Raise Concerns Over Wagner Group’s Presence in Mali

Russian mercenaries boarding a helicopter in northern Mali in an undated photo handed out by the French military. Photo: AP News.

On Tuesday, the UN Human Rights Council discussed the alleged human rights violations by the Russian private military company (PMC), the Wagner Group. They were accused of participation in civilian killings.

The United States, Canada, Great Britain and Ukraine were among some of the countries present at the meeting in Geneva that raised concerns over the actions being conducted by Wagner contractors, supporting the Malian government.

In 2021, Mali underwent a coup, in which current leaders seized power with the support of the Wagner Group. Russia maintains that the contractors are not mercenaries, but rather trainers to help support local military forces by bringing equipment from Russia. 

Patricia Lyn McCullagh, the Canadian envoy, said in the Human Rights Council, “we are particularly concerned by the presence and actions of the Wagner Group,” when discussing the review of human rights violations in Mali.

Several countries asked Mali to conduct an independent investigation in an incident in March 2022, in Moura, a city in central Mali, where local troops and suspected Wagner troops were accused of shooting, resulting in the killing of hundreds of civilians. According to a report by Human Rights Watch, “the killings occurred amid a spike in suspects, since late 2021, in armed Islamist groups linked to Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara, and by Malian government security forces.”

At the conference, Maria Molodtsova, the Russian envoy, said, “those killed [in Moura] were militants from terrorist groups that had oppressed the population for years.” The military operation “contributed to peace and tranquility in Moura.”

President Vladimir Putin claims that the Russian state has nothing to do with the Russian military contractors working in Mali. The French President, Emmanuel Macron, said there were no complaints from Mali over the Russian military contractors’ activity in the country.

Sergey Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, and Abdoulaye Diop, Mali's foreign minister, speak at a press conference about alleged human rights abuses committed by the Wagner Group in Bamako, Mali, on February 7. Photo: Baba Ahmed/AP News.

France maintained strong opposition to mercenary activity during the UN conference. Last year, Mali refrained from accepting aid from their former colonial power France, favoring help from Russia instead. Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, made his second visit to Africa in February 2023, further strengthening the ties between the two nations.

Other European countries, such as Germany, deployed military forces in Mali to aid the formation of a constitution in its current transition of power in Mali. Mali’s military authorities announced that a referendum on a draft constitution will take place on June 18.

In 2012, Russian PMCs were present in only two countries. In 2021, that number rose to 27. There has been overall strong opposition from many Western countries about the presence of Russian PMCs in developing countries. Private military companies are businesses that offer specialized services related to war and conflict, including combat operations, strategic planning, intelligence collection, operational and logistical support, training, procurement and maintenance.

Over the past decade, more human rights organizations like the UN and the European Council of Human Rights have been raising awareness about the growth of these Russian firms in light of the news related to civilian deaths. 

According to the recent press release, the European Council decided “to impose additional restrictive measures against individuals and entities linked to the Wagner Group in view of the international dimension and gravity of the group’s activities, as well as its destabilizing impact on the countries where it is active.” They specifically addressed concerns on the group’s presence in Sudan, Mali, CAR and Ukraine.