UN experts urge Mali to lift suspension of political party activities

Mali's suspension of political parties' activities is a violation of basic human rights and must be immediately repealed, United Nations experts said on Thursday.

The Sahel nation's ruling junta on Wednesday suspended political parties' activities "until further notice for reasons of public order", amid opposition protests against the military government's ramped-up crackdown on dissent.

"This decree suspending political activities must be immediately repealed," three independent UN experts said in a statement.

The UN's top independent expert on the rights situation in Mali, along with the special rapporteurs on freedom of expression and freedom of peaceful assembly, condemned the adoption in Mali on April 30 of a bill repealing basic protections to political participation.

Right to political participation 'restricted'

Legal experts have interpreted that move as a step towards the dissolution of political parties.

If passed, that "bill will place Mali in contravention of its human rights obligations, notably on freedoms of association and expression", warned the experts, who are mandated by the UN Human Rights Council but who do not speak on behalf of the United Nations.

"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 experts rejected the junta's argument that were the result of national dialogues, and were aimed to merely "stop the proliferation of political parties" in the country.

Right to peaceful assembly

"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," they said.

Ahead of fresh rallies called for on Friday by parties critical of the junta, the experts insisted that "the right to peacefully assembly is essential to the health of a vibrant political community."

"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."