MALI REVISITED
Territorial Brigade, Kayes
Special Police, Kayes, Saturday
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Prosecutor of the Republic,
Deputy and the Registrar of the Prison, Kayes
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Mr. Moussa Traore and Madam Miriam Traore
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Maitre Amidou Diabate,
Minister of Justice
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FINDINGS
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RECOMMENDATIONS
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APPENDICES
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PRESS RELEASE
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PRISON POPULATION IN MALI
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COMMENTS BY THE GOVERNMENT
OF MALI
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TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR
THE SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR ON PRISONS
AND CONDITIONS OF DETENTION IN AFRICA
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
was in the process of obtaining permission to visit prisons in Kenya, Egypt
land
Gabon, when Mali gave a very quick response to my request for a return
visit to prisons in that country, and I am extremely grateful to the government.
Special mention must be made of the Minister of Justice, Maitre Amidou
Diabate, who granted me permission to visit prisons of my choice. The
Minister of Armed Forces was equally helpful in consenting to my visiting any
place of detention. My gratitude to M. Bourama Sidibe, National Director of
Prison is immense. He briefed me on the state of prisons, personally drove us1
to Kati Prison and many other places in his vehicle, and also permitted the
same vehicle to transport us to Kati and Koulikoro prisons. The Deputy
National Director, Mr. Sanidie Toure contributed to the success of my work.
As on the previous visit, it was my fortune to have had a meeting with Mr.
Tiebile Drame, Member of Parliament and former Minister of Arid and
Semiarid zones. He presented a balanced picture of Mali, which would make
anyone in my position feel that he was within a setting of which he had an
objective understanding. I am much obliged to him.
I was also fortunate to have been in Bamako at a time when
representatives of the Malian Association of Human Rights from all over
the country were gathered for a meeting there. They honoured me with a
meeting on 30 November 1998, and I am exceedingly grateful to the
President of the Association, Moustapha S.M. Cisse and all those who
attended the meeting.
The transparent attitude of the government and its spirit of ready co-operation
bear mention again. Within a short time of expressing my desire, on my first
visit, of seeing some of the detained members of the Opposition, I was led to
its leader, Mr. Almany Sylla, who was in detention in Kati prison. I must state,
parenthetically, that ironically having gained his liberty, it was difficult to trace
and have a meeting with Mr. Sylla, and so try as I did, I regrettably left Mali
on my second visit without meeting him. To return to the government of Mali,
it had no hesitation in granting me permission to meet in detention, the former
1. I was accompanied by Barbara Vital-Durand of PRI.