Press release

May 7, 1990 - May 7, 2000

The massacres at Tchin Tabaraden: 10 years later! No justice for the civilian Tuareg men, women and children massacred at Tchin Tabaraden.

On the 10th anniversary of the massacre of thousands of civilian Tuaregs in Mali and Niger, Survie Touarègue-TEMOUST takes this opportunity to appeal to the international community to bring the people who have committed these crimes to retribution and help restore justice on behalf of the Tuareg people.  The 7th of May has become a day of remembrance and reflexion for all Tuaregs.

The Berber-speaking Tuaregs (Amazighs) live in the central Sahara and in the bordering areas of the Sahel. The majority (85%), estimated at over 3.5 million people, occupy the northern arid zones of Mali and Niger.  Of the dozen or so different ethnic groups in these two countries, Tuaregs represent about 10% of Mali's population, and 20% of Niger's.

Since May 1990, the Tuareg regions have experienced ever-growing unrest. Marginalization and repression of ethnic Tuaregs ever since the creation of Mali and Niger as nation states in the mid-twentieth century has escalated towards an organized genocide. In May 1990, an armed resistance emerged among the Twaregs, claiming the autonomy of Tuareg regions, with subsequent retaliations and massacres by government forces. Negotiations initiated by France and Algeria opened the way to signing peace agreements: 1992 in Mali and 1995 in Niger.  These agreements called for a  major decentralization of national power in favour of greater regional governance.  They also guaranteed the integration of Twareg resistance fighters  into the national armies of the two countries. Today, however, the implementation of these agreements has been too slow to accomplish an acceptable level of representation and governance for the Twaregs. Authorities say that security risks are what is causing the delay and keeping them from solving real political problems.

Forgotten by international law, ignored by the international community, the Tuareg people are being pushed into a resignation which can only be fatal. Thousands of deaths and hundreds of thousands of displaced Tuareg families and refugees have not been enough to draw the international interest towards the difficulties faced by the Tuareg people. Those who are aware have remained silent.  The Tuareg movement has struggled for human rights unnoticed. Various peace makers who have perceived and understood this weakness have snuffed out this question, thus undermining any possibility of its gaining world recognition. The hope of the Tuareg people that the world will find out the truth is fading away.

In both Mali and Niger, countries that are among the poorest in the world, the lure of personal material gain has grossly eroded the moral fabric of the political-military establishment, and has served to divide ethnic groups against one another in scape-goating Twaregs.  Political machines involving the military in Mali and Niger have manipulated former Twareg resistance leaders, encouraging them to work against the interests of their own people.

Peace agreements between the Tuareg movements and the two countries have been undermined and reduced to integrating merely a few Twareg fighters into the governmental armies. Decentralization, and the incorporation of all the resistance fighters into the army has not been accomplished.  The effective participation of Tuaregs in the political and economic life of the two countries remains insignificant.

Niger

The Tuareg community is still expecting justice for victims of the barbaric slayings at Tchin Tabaraden. In May 1990, following a dispute between prison guards and Tuareg youths, the Nigerian government hastily sent the national army into the region in order to "clean up" and "re-establish order."As a result, several hundred civilian Tuaregs (women, children, elderly, men) were assassinated savagely all over the region of Azawagh in the north. According to sources an  estimated 1700 people died in two months. The survivors and witnesses of this barbarism have reported horrible scenes.

The National Conference (Constitutional Assembly) held in Niger in 1991 permitted a few victims to report their sufferings in the presence of the oppressers and executioners, as well as representatives of regional governance and Nigerien ethnic groups. The executing officers confirmed they did it under orders from their superiors, who had intended for them to bear the responsibility. Unfortunately this hearing did not take place in any court of justice, and there was no follow-up.

Mali

In Mali the Tuareg people have been even more exposed to killings over the past ten years. Thousands of civilians have been killed by the Malian army and hundreds of thousands of refugees have fled from repression. Also, the leaders and military personnel responsible for these massacres have continued with impunity. The officers involved have even been granted promotions for their service to the Malian nation.

The «national pact », an agreement signed on January 11th, 1992 between the State and the Tuareg movements, has simply been forgotten. Nobody is observing it, although it was presented as an example for the whole of Africa.

The premature dissolution of political-military Tuareg organizations illustrates how the absence of a Tuareg political presence makes it even more difficult to get some action on the real problems of the Tuareg regions. Integration of a part of the Tuareg fighters into the army and the paramilitary troops only served to tackle a security problem of the Malian authorities and the mediating countries.  Nothing has been done to ameliorate the condition of the Tuareg people.  Any reference to the Tuareg question has disappeared in the political debates. No clear and coherent development policy has been established today, eight years after the signing of the peace agreements.

On the question of human rights, Mali benefits from an extraordinary international propaganda presenting the country as an « example of democracy. » The brutal massacre of thousands of Tuaregs by the Malian state under the leadership of Moussa Traoré, Toumani Touré and the current president Alpha Omar Konaré has not gotten sufficient attention in world news to put Mali under international ban.

Solidarity with the Tuareg People

The Amazigh World Congress (Congrès Mondiale Amazigh, CMA) at its first general assembly in the Canary Islands demonstrated its total support for the struggle of the Tuareg people. Several resolutions and recommendations have been adopted, of which the most significant are:

 - To support the basic right of the Tuareg people to maintain self-governance

 - To adopt the Tuareg matter as the "National Amazigh Cause"

 - The CMA is requesting all Tuareg associations and militant Tuaregs all over the world to bring these decisions concretely into effect by striving for greater solidarity and regular discourse on the destiny of the Tuareg people.

Conclusion

Regrettably, the international community continues to protect the criminals in Niger and in Mali and even considers them as champions of democracy, thus removing all hope from the Tuareg people to see them one day facing their crimes. These criminals are known by everyone in Mali and Niger.  They have openly admitted their crimes.  They have designated their ringleaders and political partners. The authors of these massacres can only be pardoned by the victims or those who are entitled as relatives of victims. No Tuareg organization is authorized to substitute retribution for the victims in order to agree to a pardon.

Survie Touarègue-TEMOUST reaffirms its commitment to work for the rehabilitation of thousands of innocent victims massacred by national governments in which they live, solely because of their ethnic affiliation. TEMOUST calls, therefore, for the construction of monuments in memory of the victims to be located in symbolic places chosen by the Tuareg population concerned.

Convinced that a just and lasting peace must be forged, one that demonstrates respect for human dignity, TEMOUST continues to call for the establishment of an international inquiry commission to throw some light onto the horrible massacres of Tuareg men, women and children committed over these past ten years in Niger and Mali.

In spite of all these difficulties inherent in the national political-military machine, the Tuareg movement continues to move forward. The Tuaregs are more than ever committed to assume the management of their own regions and to take their rightful place in the political and economic life of their local areas.

Survie Touarègue-TEMOUST

7, rue Major Martin 69001 Lyon (France)

Site web : http://www.temoust.fr.st

E-mail : temoust@hotmail.com