Human Rights Committee begins consideration of Second Periodic Report of Mali

Human Rights Committee
77th session
25 March 2003



Discussion Focuses on Discrimination against Women



Introducing his country's report, Sinaly Coulibaly, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Mali to the United Nations Office at Geneva, said that his country's report dealt with the human rights guaranteed by the Constitution, as well as important reforms in political, economic, social and institutional dimensions designed to provide for more effective application of those rights.
The report elaborated upon the different political regimes experienced by Mali since independence, the institutions of the Third Republic and the organization of the judiciary system, Mr. Coulibaly said. With its submission of this report, Mali demonstrated its attachment to those rights that arose from the inherent dignity of human beings.
Also representing Mali was Alassane Diallo from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.
Following the delegation's presentation of its report and its initial response to written questions, the Committee Experts addressed specific attention to the subject of gender equality and discrimination against women, in respect of, among other issues, domestic violence against women, the lack of equality on property rights, the lack of a developed inheritance law, polygamous marriages, the high-rate of child marriages and female genital mutilation.
Mali is one of the 150 States parties to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and one of the 103 States parties to the first Optional Protocol.
The Committee will reconvene at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, 26 March, to continue its consideration of the report of Mali.

Report of Mali
The second periodic report of Mali, contained in document CCPR/C/MLI/2003/2, states that the Government of Mali believes that the duty to implement the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights is an ongoing and long-term task. Mali has made great efforts to bring domestic legislation and regulations in line with the Covenant and, therefore, has been able to make significant progress toward democracy, good governance and the rule of law, toward the observance and protection of civil and political rights.
The report says that, whereas the 1997 elections were fiercely contested, those of 2002 were less so although there was some criticism of the 2002 election because of the cancellation of votes by the Constitutional Court for fraud. Moreover, Mali had in 1996 launched the Democratic Discussion Forum (EID), one of the aims of which was to inform a national and international audience about the human rights situation in Mali, hiding nothing and providing information on actions taken or planned on any complaints.
In sections covering the rights of the family and individuals, the report notes that by law men under age 18 and women under age 15 may not marry in Mali, though special dispensation may be granted in respect of the age requirement. And while no marriage can take place without consent, parental authority may play a crucial role in this area given the weight of tradition. It is also acknowledged that despite progress on the issue of the equality of men and women in Mali, there are still shortcomings, particularly in the area of inheritance rights.

Presentation of Report
Presenting his country's second periodic report to the Committee, SINALY COULIBALY, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Mali to the United Nations Office at Geneva, said that the report dealt with the human rights guaranteed by the Constitution, as well as important reforms in political, economic, social and institutional dimensions designed to provide for more effective application of those rights. Emphasis had been placed on practical measures for implementing the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which would attest to Mali's engagement with the idea of the universality of human rights and democracy.
The report elaborated, said Mr. Coulibaly, upon the different political regimes experienced by Mali since independence, the institutions of the Third Republic and the organization of the judiciary system. Among the reforms described in the report were the signature and implementation of the National Pact concerning the conflict in the north, the creation of the High Council on Communication as well as the creation of the post of Ombudsman and the adoption of a statute regarding the opposition. With its submission of this report, Mali demonstrated its attachment to those rights that arose from the inherent dignity of human beings.

Response to First Series of Written Questions
In response to the written questions submitted to the delegation by the Committee, the delegation said that Mali had ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and that international treaties were superior to national law. With regard to the implementation of the peace accords, which had ended hostilities with the rebels in the northern areas, the delegation explained that there had been integration of rebel soldiers into the Government army, but that the implementation of economic aspects of the peace agreement had not been accomplished due to the lack of financial resources.
On the issue of the competence of Mali's judicial tribunals, the delegation said that while their competence extended over the entire national territory, there were but three administrative tribunals in existence at the present time. However, local agents were being trained and responsibility would be transferred to them in the future.
Furthermore, a national Advisory Commission on human rights had been created in 1996 to promote and create greater awareness of human rights, as well as to prepare periodic reports for the Government on the implementation of human rights treaties. Seventeen members with advisory roles sat on the Commission. The members were designated by various Government ministers.
Acknowledging that women were often subject to traditional customs that made it impossible for them to own land, a member of the delegation said that this situation was being addressed with positive law. At present, women could own and build upon plots of land in urban areas, while in rural areas fields could be lent to women following a request formulated by the chief of the village. However, in the rural areas, women were not able to own land.
The delegation suggested that the low level of school attendance among girls was perhaps due to the lack of past attempts to get them involved. For economic and cultural reasons, girls had traditionally stayed at home to assist their mothers in keeping house. However, programmes had been initiated to increase girls' attendance at school. With regard to employment, there was legislation that provided aid to indigent people, but none specifically aimed at women. In any society, said one member of the delegation, there was always conventional wisdom standing in the way of progress.
The 1996-2000 National Action Plan for the advancement of women touched upon six areas in which grave gaps existed between men and women, including education, health, participation in public life, economic promotion, protection of the environment and institutional strengthening. The National Action Plan was aimed at enabling women to reconcile their productive capacities and achieve better income levels, among other improvements. The objectives of the National Action Plan were to promote women's education and health, to take specific measures to protect their rights and interests, to increase their participation in environmental issues and to enhance organizations that protected women's rights.
On the issue of the right to life, a member of the delegation explained that those crimes punishable by the death penalty included murder, crimes against humanity, slavery, war crimes, voluntary homicide, crimes against national security, crimes against the Government or territorial integrity of Mali, arson and others. However, no sentences of capital punishment had been carried out since 1979; all capital sentences had been commuted.
With regard to the allegations of torture and extra-judicial executions of three tourists in 2000, the delegation denied that this had been an incident of torture or extra-judicial execution, but acknowledged that during the arrest of the alleged authors of the crimes, there had been an exchange of fire and one had been killed. The army had conducted an investigation and then reported back to the police. Furthermore, the training of the police was aimed at avoiding the excessive use of force.
With respect to the issue of violence against women, the delegation said that legislation had been drawn up to deal with situations in which women had been subject to sexual violence and that with regard to its policy on the genital mutilation of women, the State aimed to protect girls from genital mutilation. The group “Fighting against Genital Mutilation” had been created.

Discussion of the Delegation's Responses
In the discussion of the delegation's answers to the Committee's written questions that followed, members of the Committee questioned the delegation on issues including, among others, the ability of individuals and judges to appeal to the provisions of international treaties and agreements and whether Malian citizens could take a complaint concerning the violation of a provision of the Covenant to the police. Another member asked if the public in Mali knew the provisions of the Covenant; had the Government officially published it? Moreover, were State tribunals the only bodies competent to deal with such judicial issues, or did other traditional forums exist?
The status of the Government's peace agreement with rebels in the northern areas was also subject to added questioning by the Committee. Could the situation not be addressed in an effort to balance the differences between north and south, the delegation was asked.
On the subject of gender equality and discrimination, the Committee had a number of grounds for urgent concern, in respect of, among others issues, domestic violence against women, the lack of equality on property rights within the institution of marriage, the lack of a developed inheritance law, polygamous marriages, the high-rate of child marriages and female genital mutilation. Further details were requested also about the success of and concrete steps taken in relation to the National Action Plan for the advancement of women and the fate of a national plan aimed at ending genital mutilation by 2008.
One member of the Committee also pointed out that in its presentation on the status of women in Mali, the delegation had emphasized legislation when what interested the Committee was a discussion of current practices. Among the issues, which could be discussed in greater detail were the high drop out rate among school-going girls and false marriages. The Expert also asked the delegation to address the situation in which Malian women, who married foreigners, were unable to pass on their nationality to their children. The delegation was also asked to provide more detailed information on the inclusion of human rights in the core curriculum of the educational system, given the poor attitude toward women prevalent in the country.
On the subject of the high rates of maternal and infant mortality, abortion and the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in Mali, a member of the Committee asked for more specific statistical information on the prevalence of each as well as for information on those programmes which had been undertaken by the Government to combat these phenomena.
There was a negative synergy among certain areas which had been raised by the Committee as being problematic, said one member of the Committee. If women did not receive education, they would not know their rights or have access to information about health and sanity. And though Mali was a poor country, there were educational programmes of little to no cost that could be implemented to instigate cultural change, such as discussion of women's rights in textbooks or radio programmes. Other possibilities included the appointment of women to posts within the government and the prosecution of those continuing practices of genital mutilation, she suggested. Returning to the issue of HIV/AIDS, she raised the example of Senegal as a success story in the fight against the spread of AIDS in Africa.
Another member of the Committee pointed out that there seemed to be, at best, only weak political will for the improvement of the situation of women in Mali. There were changes in legislation that could be accomplished quite easily, including making the age of consent for marriage the same for both men and women and marriage and nationality rights, although the effective implementation of those changes in society would take longer.
Independently of matters of equality, urged one Committee member, there were three aspects that needed to be rejected by the Government and elite of Mali: that women were considered property; the tradition of polygamy; and the practice of genital mutilation.

Response to Second Series of Written Questions
Continuing to respond to the written questions submitted by the Committee on the issue, among others, of trafficking in human beings, particularly children, the delegation said that there were provisions in the criminal code making such activities criminal. There had been a campaign of awareness-raising on the issue, while former victims of the trafficking in children received remuneration including psychological care.
On the issue of migrant child labor, the delegation said that in some places rural populations had adopted a strategy of corrective measures, however, rural populations were also the greatest users of such labor. Moreover, the percentage of young girls moving to cities for economic reasons was alarming. Networks were being set up to protect these highly vulnerable young girls, including developing programmes to educate them in useful skills and to encourage them to return to their home villages, to protect them from being abandoned on the fringes of society.
On the issue of methods for appointing and removing judges, the delegation said that the Ministry of Justice no longer had its previous, extraordinary powers. The Ministry of Justice and the President of the Republic were no longer involved in the appointment or dismissal of judges.
On the issue of refugees, specifically 6,000 Mauritanians living in Mali for more than a decade, the delegation said that support had been provided to them. The Mauritanians had been supported by the National Refugee Commission, together with the High Commissioner for Refugees and a Canadian group. Even though Mauritania did not acknowledge these people as its nationals, efforts had been made to return them. And though the repatriation programme had not been easy, some had returned. Of those who had remained, some had become naturalized citizens of Mali.
Addressing the protection of minority rights in Mali, the delegation said that the Constitution declared all Malian citizens equal. All languages spoken in Mali were considered as national languages and enjoyed the same treatment by the State. The linguistic policy was based on the promotion of bilingualism and multilingualism; there was also promotion of national languages. The Constitution, electoral code and other documents were available in Mali's national languages.
On the dissemination of the Covenant, the delegation said that a national ten-year programme provided for widespread dissemination of the Covenant. Once the Government had adopted the Covenant, elected Parliamentarians were allowed a chance for discussion before adoption by the National Assembly. Then, an official bulletin had been published, leading to broad publication and discussion in the media.
Having answered the written questions submitted by the Committee, the Committee will have an additional opportunity to ask questions of the delegation, following which the delegation will respond to the Committee's oral questioning.



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