“These are extremely disturbing findings,” said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk. “Summary executions, rape and torture during armed conflict amount to war crimes and could, depending on the circumstances, amount to crimes against humanity.”
The report details how events unfolded day-by-day in Moura. The operation - described by the authorities as an anti-terrorist military operation against an al-Qaeda-affiliated group known as Katiba Macina – began on 27 March 2022, a busy weekly market day in Moura. Then, over the next four days, at least 500 people are believed to have been summarily executed, the report says. The fact-finding team has obtained extensive personal identification details, including the names of at least 238 of these victims.