All political parties have been dissolved by Mali’s military administration in response to rights groups’ claims that opposition leaders have been detained.
Following a televised announcement on Tuesday, Assimi Goita, who took control in two army coups in 2020 and 2021, affirmed the decision.
The parties were disbanded after demonstrations this month, demanding the country returned to democratic rule.
Protesters gathered on May 3 and 4, carrying placards with inscriptions reading, “Down with dictatorship, long live democracy,” in a rare public rebuke of the military government, which had promised to hold elections in 2022.
A national conference held in April recommended extending Goita’s presidency until 2030, drawing condemnation from opposition figures and human rights groups.
In response to another protest that had been planned on Friday, the military government issued a decree suspending all political activities across the country.
The move forced opposition groups to cancel the demonstration, and the government has now tightened its grip further.
The clampdown has coincided with reports of disappearances of opposition figures. Human rights groups said several politicians have been forcibly disappeared in recent days.
On Thursday, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Abba Alhassane, the secretary-general of the Convergence for the Development of Mali (CODEM), was “arrested” by “masked gunmen”.
That same day, El Bachir Thiam, the leader of the Yelema party, was reportedly seized by unidentified men in Kati, a town outside the capital.
On Tuesday, a CODEM member speaking on condition of anonymity told the Reuters news agency that the party had lost contact with Abdoul Karim Traore, a youth leader, and feared he too had been abducted.
Malian authorities have not commented on the reported arrests.
Goita took office in August 2020, amid growing attacks by ISIL (ISIS) and al-Qaeda’s regional affiliate Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM).
Protests against the old civilian government were violently suppressed in July 2020, with at least 14 people dead amid a security force crackdown.
The military then overthrew the elected administration, alleging its inability to combat armed groups.
HRW found in December of last year that Malian military, along with Russian Wagner Group combatants, “deliberately killed” at least 32 civilians and destroyed more than 100 homes in central and northern Mali.
