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1 [1] (October 21, 2020)

handle is hein.crs/govdchs0001 and id is 1 raw text is: * ~ ~ tiE ~sct~rch $3c ~ .................. Updated October 21, 2020 Crisis in Mali The military's ouster of Mali's elected president in August 2020 heightened political uncertainty amid severe security, governance, and humanitarian challenges. Under pressure from economic sanctions imposed by West African leaders, the junta agreed to hand power to a nominally civilian-led transitional government, with retired military officer and former defense minister Bah N'Daw serving as President and former foreign minister Moctar Ouane as Prime Minister. Junta leader Col. Assimi Goita was named Vice President, a new position, and military officers are serving in four key cabinet posts. The transitional administration is expected to organize elections within 18 months. Many in Bamako (Fig. 1) welcomed the military's actions as the culmination of weeks of protests against President Ibrahim Boubacar K6Yta, who resigned and dissolved parliament after being detained by soldiers. Mali's new authorities may struggle to meet popular expectations, however. Much of the country's territory is under the control of Islamist insurgents and other armed groups. A 2015 peace accord with northern separatists has not been fully implemented. Ethnic militias, some of which appear to enjoy state backing, have massacred civilians in rural northeast and central Mali, and military forces have been implicated in extrajudicial killings. While comparatively secure, Bamako has seen several big terrorist attacks, including a hotel siege in 2015 in which 19 civilians (including an American) were killed. Rebel, terrorist, communal defense, and criminal networks often overlap. These complex threats and security dynamics have impeded development and humanitarian relief efforts in a poor and landlocked country with limited arable land. More than 287,000 Malians were internally displaced as of mid-2020, almost double the previous year, and at least 142,000 were refugees in neighboring countries as of early 2020, per U.N. figures. The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has brought new health and economic difficulties. Foreign troops have deployed to Mali since 2013 to try to improve stability and counter terrorism. MINUSMA, a U.N. peacekeeping operation, has up to 15,209 uniformed personnel. About 5,100 French troops are deployed in the Sahel region (including Mali) under France's Operation Barkhane, a counterterrorism mission that receives U.S. logistical support (as authorized by Congress under 10 U.S.C. §331) and intelligence sharing. The European Union runs programs to train and restructure Mali's military and build the capacity of its civilian security forces. In 2017, the G5 Sahel-comprising Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Burkina Faso, and Chad initiated a joint force to coordinate military operations in border regions, with donor support. Background. Mali has been mired in crisis since 2012, when state institutions nearly collapsed in the face of a northern separatist rebellion led by members of the minority ethnic Tuareg community, a military coup, an Islamist insurgent advance, and a regional drought. Figure I. Mali at a Glance Population; 19.6 mrinion {44% urbhat S'ze: Sighdly kss than 2x - CT Texas Religions: Mus in 94% Chrstian 3% hernc~ne 3 (20.1: estj * Ethnicities: Bamnbara 3 FSutsni (Peu13%, Soninke 1%. Sorghe -%, Rob- 2, Tuareg/ela 2W. othEri T j2018 est.) Fertility Rate: 5.7 hidten born/omen ('.oIdd's 4th highest} Literacy Rate: 35 (maI 45% ;emae 26% = (n 1 est4 HN/AIDS Adult Prevalence: .4' O1 est.i GDP Growth / Per Capita: 1.5% t202O1 ' 24 (2019 est). Key Imports/Import Partners: petrol-ur, machinery ard eq*i*mnt, costruction mateias, foodstffs tex:t+ies/ Seieg, Chir:a Cte dauo:re, Ftan e (201T Key Experts/Export Partners: otton gold, l ivestc f: / S'j tzerland, UAE, BuLrk~E::t Faso, £bote d%;ofure, South~ Afilca, Bangladesh (2017; Source: CRS graphic. Data from CIA World Factbook and International Monetary Fund; 2020 estimates unless noted. Military officers seized power in early 2012, and northern rebels bolstered by arms from Libya and by fighters with ties to Algerian-led Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM)-declared an independent state of Azawad. By mid-2012, AQIM and two loosely aligned groups had outmaneuvered the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) to assert control over most of the north. France intervened militarily against the Islamists in early 2013, at which point the MNLA and other factions (re-)asserted control in some areas. MINUSMA deployed in mid-2013, and K6ita won elections later that year, marking the end of Mali's post-coup political transition. The 2012 coup leader, Capt. Amadou Haya Sanogo, faces charges for the murder of rival soldiers, but his trial has been delayed. President K6ita was reelected in 2018, but opposition mounted over his administration's apparent interference in legislative elections in early 2020, corruption scandals, and worsening insecurity, militia violence, and economic hardships. In June 2020, a loose alliance of politicians, civil society actors, and supporters of an influential Bamako religious leader convened large protests and called for K6ita to resign, provoking a violent state crackdown. Regional heads of state attempted unsuccessfully to mediate, including by calling on 31 disputed members of parliament to step down. (The National Assembly Speaker, Kdita's constitutional successor, was among them.) §taed Pace Accord In 2015, Keita's administration signed a peace deal with two northern armed coalitions: one led by ex-separatists, the other by pro-unity groups with ties to Bamako. Mediated by Algeria with broad international backing, the Algiers Accord aimed to address northern (and specifically Tuareg) political grievances, reestablish state * .....*.~

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