Mali: United Nations (UN) experts demand activist El Bachir Thiam’s release, four months after enforced disappearance

UN experts* today called on authorities in Mali to disclose the fate and whereabouts of journalist and activist El Bachir Thiam, who disappeared four months ago.

“Mali must immediately and unconditionally release El Bachir Thiam and other victims of enforced disappearance, and cease the crackdown on civil society actors, human rights defenders, and political opponents or those perceived as such,” the experts said.

El Bachir Thiam is a journalist for the MaliActu website and a member of several civil society organisations and political movements, including the political party Yelema – Le Changement, led by former Prime Minister Moussa Mara, the Collectif Sirako, and a youth movement calling for a return to constitutional order, for which he serves as spokesperson and communications officer.

Thiam was allegedly kidnapped on 8 May 2025, in front of several witnesses in Kati town, by a group of at least five hooded and unidentified men suspected of being Malian intelligence agents – more specifically from the the Agence Nationale de la Sécurité d’Etat (ANSE) – or elements of the Bamako gendarmerie du Camp I, who were traveling in a gray TOYOTA V8 4×4 vehicle with tinted windows and no license plate. His relatives and colleagues reportedly searched for him in vain in police stations and gendarmeries of Bamako and Kati. Since then, Thiam’s fate and whereabouts have remained unknown.

“As time goes by, Thiam’s condition risks deteriorating further and will take a profound toll on his physical and psychological health,” the experts said.

On 17 July 2025, Thiam Mariam Dagnon, wife of El Bachir Thiam, filed a complaint for kidnapping and disappearance with the Public Prosecutor of the Kati Court of First Instance. Thiam’s alleged kidnapping and enforced disappearance took place in the context of peaceful protest movements initiated in early May 2025 by several political movements and parties, as well as civil society actors and organisations, following the adoption of draconian laws further restricting civic space by Malian transitional authorities in April 2025.

“State authorities who detain individuals and refuse to acknowledge that they are in custody or disclose their fate or whereabouts, place them outside the protection of the law and commit the crime of enforced disappearance of persons – as defined in Mali’s Penal Code. Such acts constitute an enforced disappearance regardless of the duration of the detention or concealment,” the experts said.

“The enforced disappearance of El Bachir Thiam and others is a blatant violation of Mali’s international legal obligations.”

The experts stressed that Malian authorities are allegedly making increased use of enforced disappearance as a weapon to instill fear and silence civil society actors, human rights defenders, political opponents or those perceived as such.

“These actions have a pattern. The frequency of the practice, its organised nature and the methods used indicate a systematic character,” they said.

“ANSE is acting with an apparent sense of impunity and entitlement,” the experts said. They noted that, according to Malian legislation, ANSE is placed under the direct authority of the President of the Republic and its agents may not be prosecuted in the performance of their duties, unless they have committed a serious offence through negligence or flagrant violation of procedures (articles 8 and 9 of the 1 October 2021 Ordinnance creating the ANSE), but they do not face any robust oversight or scrutiny. “By virtue of functioning directly under the President of the Republic, ANSE’s actions raise questions of criminal accountability under Malian and international law.”

“Thiam’s case reflects the persistent and escalating pattern of human rights violations against members of opposition political parties, civil society organisations, journalists and human rights defenders in Mali,” the experts said, recalling that several mandate holders had expressed similar concerns in 2021, 2024 as well as in February, April and August 2025.

They noted that the situation has continued to further deteriorate, as illustrated by the signature or adoption of several draconian laws, including a presidential decree on 13 May which dissolved all political parties and “organisations of a political nature” in Mali.

The experts have written to the Government of Mali and will continue to closely monitor the situation.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of United Nations: Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).