In its more than three years in Mali, the Russian paramilitary group Wagner kidnapped, detained and tortured hundreds of civilians, including at former UN bases and camps shared with the country’s army, according to a report published Thursday by a journalist collective.
The victims, who were interviewed by a consortium of reporters led by investigative outlet Forbidden Stories, spoke from a refugee camp in neighbouring Mauritania about waterboarding, beatings with electrical cables and being burned with cigarette butts.
The investigation revealed that the use of illegal detentions and systematic torture, which sometimes led to death, was similar to that which occurred in Ukraine and Russia.
The investigation, which was conducted in conjunction with France 24, Le Monde and IStories, identified six detention sites where the Russian paramilitary group held civilians between 2022 and 2024, but the actual number could be much higher, it said.
Mali’s ruling junta, which seized power in coups in 2020 and 2021, broke off ties with former colonial power France and pivoted towards Russia for political and military support after coming to power.
The country never officially admitted Wagner’s presence, insisting it only worked with Russian instructors.
Nonetheless, last week a Telegram channel affiliated with Wagner announced that the Russian paramilitary group was leaving Mali.
Its personnel will be reintegrated into its successor, Africa Corps, another paramilitary group with links to the Kremlin, according to diplomatic and security sources who spoke with AFP.
For more than three years, Mali had relied on Wagner in its fight against jihadists who have killed thousands across the country.
The paramilitary group’s brutal methods on the ground in Mali have been regularly denounced by human rights groups.
A UN report accused Mali’s army and foreign fighters of executing at least 500 people during a March 2022 anti-jihadist sweep in Moura — a claim denied by the junta.
Western governments believe the foreign fighters were Wagner mercenaries.
Last April, bodies were discovered near a Malian military camp, days after the army and Wagner paramilitaries arrested dozens of civilians, most from the Fulani community.
