Rights officials deny alleged abuses by Malian army on Tuaregs, Arabs

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Officials of Malian human rights organizations say no organization has given any evidence that the Malian army committed any human rights violations against Tuaregs or Arabs in the newly recaptured north.

The officials made the statement on Friday after the Malian army was accused by international human rights organizations of committing abuses.

The rapporteur of Amnesty International, Gaetan Mootoo, made the charges on Friday morning in the Malian capital Bamako.

Information gathered by his organization showed that "some people were arrested in Sevare, before being summarily executed by the Malian army."

At a press conference held later in Bamako, the president of the Mali National Human Rights Commission, Me Kadidia Sangare Coulibaly, said, "Amnesty International and the International Federation of Human Rights did not have reliable sources for their information."

She said she had not yet received any report on any abuse against Tuaregs, Arabs or any other Malian citizen by the army.

"The International Committee of the Red Cross has not confirmed that there was any abuses," she told reporters.

The same position was voiced by the secretary general of Mali's Human Rights Association , Me Moctar Mariko.

"Amnesty International does not have evidence. There was nothing in Sevare, I was on the ground myself on Jan. 13 to verify the information," Mariko said.

There were dead bodies, but there was nothing to prove that those individuals had been killed by the Malian army, he added. Endi

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