Islamists destroy door of ancient Timbuktu mosque
BAMAKO — Mali’s Islamist rebels smashed the entrance of a 15th century Timbuktu mosque on Monday, escalating a campaign of destruction of the city’s cultural treasures despite threats of prosecution for war crimes.
Some residents sobbed as the Islamist militants broke down the ‘sacred door’ of one of the northern Malian city’s three ancient mosques after they wrecked seven tombs of Muslim saints over the weekend.
Exclusive video footage obtained by AFP shows turbaned men chanting ‘Allahu Akbar’ (God is great) while smashing a mausoleum with pick-axes in a cloud of dust, the mud-brick tomb showing gaping holes in the side with rubble piling up alongside it.
Ansar Dine (Defenders of Faith) believe the shrines to be idolatrous and have threatened to destroy any mosques housing the remains of the ancient saints, prompting an outcry from government and the international community.
Mali crisis: Who's who?
Mali is in the grip of an unprecedented political crisis, one of the most serious since the landlocked West African country gained independence from France in 1960.
Mali’s Tuareg rebels are now in control of the north of the country - one of the poorest in the world.
The army seized power in March, accusing the elected government of being soft on the rebels - but while the military was distracted, the rebels made rapid advances.
Under a deal brokered by the West African regional bloc Ecowas, the country has now returned to civilian rule - with Mali’s parliamentary speaker sworn in as interim president on 12 April. But political uncertainty remains.
“Acts of conflict-related sexual violence can constitute war crimes or crimes against humanity for which combatants and their commanders will be held to account,” she said.” Disturbing reports of extreme sexual violence against Malian women and girls
Mali coup leaders to stand down as part of Ecowas deal
Coup leaders in Mali have agreed to stand down and allow a transition to civilian rule, as part of a deal struck with regional bloc Ecowas.
In return, the bloc will lift trade and economic sanctions and grant amnesty to the ruling junta, mediators said.
The move came after Tuareg rebels in the north declared independence of territory they call Azawad.
The rebels seized the area after a coup two weeks ago plunged the West African nation into political crisis.
Explainer: The Tuareg rebellion
Tuareg fighters say they will continue their fight until Mali recognises their right to self-determination.
In Mali, women from a Saving for Change group–dubbed Sabougnuma, or “good deed”–hold their weekly meeting. This colorful photo captures the community spirit of the savings groups, where women work together to help each other save money and start small businesses. (via the Oxfam America blog)
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Mali Still Denying Women’s Rights
Mali’s president says he won’t sign a controversial new law that gives more rights to women, the BBC reports. President Amadou Toumani Toure says he supports the so-called family law, which Muslim leaders have denounced as the devil’s work, but is sending it back to parliament for review. “I have taken this decision to ensure calm and a peaceful society,” he said.
Under the law, women aren’t required to obey their husbands, and the minimum age for marriage is raised to 18 in most cases. Another point unpopular in the 90% Muslim country: Marriage is defined as a secular institution. Women’s groups have been pushing for the changes for 10 years.
—Sarah Quinn
SOURCE: BBC
MALI: Threats of violence greet new family code
From IRIN Africa, excerpt:
BAMAKO, 11 August 2009 (IRIN) - While rights groups are celebrating a newly-adopted family code in Mali that changes marriage laws and expands girls’ rights, Muslim leaders and youths have vowed, even threatening violence, to block the code from becoming law.
The code – under discussion for 10 years before its adoption on 3 August – includes more than 1,100 new articles, including setting the legal minimum age for marriage at 18, abolishing the death penalty, recognizing only secular marriages and expanding inheritance rights to girls. The code must be approved by the president to become law.
The secretary of Mali’s highest ruling Islamic council, Mohamed Kimbiri, told IRIN the council will do all it can to block enforcement. “This code is a shame, treason [for Muslims]…We are not against the spirit of the code, but we want a code appropriate for Mali that is adapted to its societal values. We will fight with all our resources so that this code is not promulgated or enacted.”
He said despite consulting members of the religious community on the code’s wording, parliament members ignored religious leaders’ suggestions and bowed to donor wishes.
“We do not want a code imported from donors, notably the European Union, which conditions its aid on certain social reforms, including the adoption of this code,” Kimbiri said. “The assembly adopted it under pressure. But we will not be pressured [into accepting] a code that is not ours.”
From 2000 to 2007 the European Union gave some US$640 million for poverty reduction in Mali. But the president of a national women’s association of NGOs, Oumou Touré, said the family code is a “constitutional and democratic demand” that promotes social justice. “Many girls married at 10, 11 or 12 have died in recent years in the region of Kayes [500km northeast of Bamako]… The new code will put the brakes [on this] because the guilty will from now on be punished and fined.”
Amnesty International estimated in 2005 that more than 60 percent of young women in Mali married before the age of 18…
One of five parliament members who voted against the code, Abdoulaye Dembélé, said he could not risk upsetting his constituents. “I cannot go before my voters and tell them that religious marriages are not legal… that a woman should no longer obey her husband and that they should respect one another equally… If I do this, voters will punish me in the next elections.”
