Mali: UN Experts Say Mali Should Not Hinder Or Suspend The Activities Of Political Parties

GENEVA (8 May 2025) – The adoption of a bill repealing basic protections to political participation by the Council of Ministers on 30 April 2025 and the signature of a decree on 7 May 2025 suspending the activities of political parties until further notice are a direct violation of basic human rights, a group of independent human rights experts* warned today.

“This decree suspending political activities must be immediately repealed. In addition, if passed into law, the 30 April bill will place Mali in contravention of its human rights obligations, notably on freedoms of association and expression,” the experts stressed.

The Government of Mali has argued that the repeal of existing laws did not call into question the existence of political parties and that the Government only sought to "stop the proliferation of political parties" in the country.

However, the experts pointed out that the proliferation of parties is easier to reduce with legitimate electoral rules, including those that make registration conditional to previous electoral performance. “Instead, the recently adopted bill will make the registration of a party and candidacies conditional to onerous financial deposits, restricting the right to political participation to sectors with high economic capacity,” they warned.

“The government argues that these are direct proposals from national dialogues: the 2021 “Assises Nationales de la Refondation” and consultations on the review of the Charter of Political Parties held in April 2025. However, no genuine consultation is possible in the current climate of suppression of the civic space, where opponents and independent journalists have reasons to fear that free expression will be punished,” the experts said.

Several political parties boycotted the April 2025 consultations because they were reasonably concerned, as the current events demonstrate that the Malian Transitional authorities were using the process as a tool to eventually dissolve political parties or ban their activities.

Mali’s Council of Ministers also noted other recommendations from the April 2025 consultations, including naming the current head of state, Gen. Assimi Goita as president, without elections, for a renewable period of five years to be counted from 2025. The bill, as well as the favourable reception of such alarming proposals by the Council of Ministers, would betray national and international commitments made by the Malian authorities, the experts said.

They recalled that Gen. Assimi Goïta himself, at the Council of Ministers meeting on 27 November 2024, called on the Government to “create the conditions necessary for the organisation of transparent and peaceful elections which should put an end to the transition.” Mali had also accepted specific recommendations to protect freedoms of association and expression during the Universal Periodic Review of 2023: the current actions would call into question the credibility of Malian authorities.

The bill will now be presented to the National Transitional Council, presided by Gen. Malick Diaw, for approval.

“We urge the National Transitional Council to refrain from approving this draft legislation,” the experts said. “We stand ready to assist the Government to revise the Amendment Bill to ensure compliance with international human rights norms and standards,” they added.

Following the adoption of the bill, political parties have called on protests and public activities on 3 and 4 May. However, they have alleged that individuals claiming to support the transitional authorities violently disrupted their gatherings. Further, the political parties have called on new public gatherings on 9 May.

“The right to peacefully assembly is essential to the health of a vibrant political community,” the experts said. “The Malian Transitional authorities must scrupulously respect it and abstain from acts of intimidation and repression that risk the physical integrity and the rights of demonstrators.”

*The experts: Eduardo Gonzalez, Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in Mali; Irene Khan, Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of opinion and expression; Gina Romero, Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association.

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