Women and girls fleeing Mali describe sexual violence by Russian army

[ad_1] The lady lay in a makeshift well being clinic, her eyes glazed over and her mouth open, flies resting on her lips. Her chest barely moved. Drops of fevered sweat trickled down her brow as medical staff hurried round her, attaching an IV drip.

It was the final second to save lots of her life, mentioned Bethsabee Djoman Elidje, the ladies's well being supervisor, who led the clinic's effort as the guts monitor beeped quickly. The lady had an an infection after a sexual assault, Elidje mentioned, and had been in shock, untreated, for days.

Her household mentioned the 14-year-old had been raped by Russian fighters who burst into their tent in Mali two weeks earlier. The Russians have been members of Africa Corps, a brand new army unit beneath Russia's protection ministry that changed the Wagner mercenary group six months in the past.

Males, ladies and youngsters have been sexually assaulted by all sides throughout Mali's decade-long battle, the UN and support staff say, with reviews of gang rape and sexual slavery. However the true toll is hidden by a veil of disgrace that makes it troublesome for girls from conservative, patriarchal societies to hunt assist.

The silence that just about killed the 14-year-old additionally hurts efforts to carry perpetrators accountable.

The AP realized of the alleged rape and 4 different alleged instances of sexual violence blamed on Africa Corps fighters, generally described by Malians because the “white males,” whereas interviewing dozens of refugees on the border about different abuses comparable to beheadings and abductions.

Different combatants in Mali have been blamed for sexual assaults. The top of a ladies’s well being clinic within the Mopti space instructed the AP it had handled 28 ladies within the final six months who mentioned they'd been assaulted by militants with the al-Qaida affiliated JNIM, essentially the most highly effective armed group in Mali.

<img fetchpriority="low" src="https://s.france24.com/media/display/5588fd60-d8c1-11f0-893b-005056a97e36/w:980/AP25346630037457.jpg" srcset="https://s.france24.com/media/display/5588fd60-d8c1-11f0-893b-005056a97e36/w:246/AP25346630037457.jpg 246w,https://s.france24.com/media/display/5588fd60-d8c1-11f0-893b-005056a97e36/w:388/AP25346630037457.jpg 388w,https://s.france24.com/media/display/5588fd60-d8c1-11f0-893b-005056a97e36/w:720/AP25346630037457.jpg 720w,https://s.france24.com/media/display/5588fd60-d8c1-11f0-893b-005056a97e36/w:980/AP25346630037457.jpg 980w" sizes="(max-width: 1023px) calc(100vw - 32px), (min-width: 1024px) 850px" alt="Moyme, who fled Mali in fear of the Malian Army and its Russian allies, poses for a portrait in the Mbera camp, Mauritania, where she found refuge, Nov. 4, 2025." style="max-height:567px" loading="lazy" class="a-img "/> Moyme, who fled Mali in worry of the Malian Military and its Russian allies, poses for a portrait within the Mbera camp, Mauritania, the place she discovered refuge, November 4, 2025. © Caitlin Kelly, AP The silence amongst Malian refugees has been placing.

In japanese Congo, which for many years has confronted violence from dozens of armed teams, “we didn’t need to search for folks,” mentioned Mirjam Molenaar, the medical crew chief within the border space for Medical doctors With out Borders, or MSF, who was stationed there final yr. The ladies "got here in big numbers.”

It is completely different right here, she mentioned: “Folks bear these items they usually reside with it, and it reveals in post-traumatic stress."

The aunt of the 14-year-old lady mentioned the Africa Corps fighters marched everybody outdoors at gunpoint. The household could not perceive what they needed. The boys made them watch as they tied up the lady’s uncle and lower off his head.

Then two of the lads took the 14-year-old into the tent as she tried to defend herself, and raped her. The household waited outdoors, unable to maneuver.

“We have been so scared that we weren't even capable of scream anymore,” the aunt recalled, as her mom sobbed quietly subsequent to her. She, like different ladies, spoke on situation of anonymity for worry of retaliation, and the AP doesn't identify victims of rape until they comply with be named.

The lady emerged over a half-hour later, wanting terrified. Then she noticed her uncle's physique and screamed. She fainted. When she awakened, she had the eyes of somebody “who was not there,” the aunt mentioned.

The subsequent morning, JNIM militants got here and ordered the household to depart. They piled onto a donkey cart and set off towards the border. At any sound, they hid within the bushes, holding their breath.

<img fetchpriority="low" src="https://s.france24.com/media/display/8c57f46c-d8c2-11f0-846c-005056a90284/w:980/AP25346630099668.jpg" srcset="https://s.france24.com/media/display/8c57f46c-d8c2-11f0-846c-005056a90284/w:246/AP25346630099668.jpg 246w,https://s.france24.com/media/display/8c57f46c-d8c2-11f0-846c-005056a90284/w:388/AP25346630099668.jpg 388w,https://s.france24.com/media/display/8c57f46c-d8c2-11f0-846c-005056a90284/w:720/AP25346630099668.jpg 720w,https://s.france24.com/media/display/8c57f46c-d8c2-11f0-846c-005056a90284/w:980/AP25346630099668.jpg 980w" sizes="(max-width: 1023px) calc(100vw - 32px), (min-width: 1024px) 850px" alt="Donkeys walk past a tent occupied by two women who were attacked and assaulted by Africa Corps in Mali in Douankara, Hodh El Chargui Region, Mauritania, Nov. 6, 2025." style="max-height:567px" loading="lazy" class="a-img "/> Donkeys stroll previous a tent occupied by two ladies who have been attacked and assaulted by Africa Corps in Mali in Douankara, Hodh El Chargui Area, Mauritania, November 6, 2025. © Caitlin Kelly, AP The lady's situation deteriorated throughout the three-day journey. Once they arrived in Mauritania, she collapsed.

The AP got here throughout her mendacity on the bottom within the courtyard of an area household. Her household mentioned they'd not taken her to a clinic as a result of they'd no cash.

“In case you have nothing, how will you carry somebody to a health care provider?” the lady’s grandmother mentioned between sobs. The AP took the household to a free clinic run by MSF. A physician mentioned the lady had indicators of being raped.

The clinic had been functioning for barely a month and had seen three survivors of sexual violence, supervisor Elidje mentioned.

“We're satisfied that there are a lot of instances like this," she mentioned. "However to this point, only a few sufferers come ahead to hunt remedy as a result of it’s nonetheless a taboo topic right here. It actually takes time and persistence for these ladies to open up and open up to somebody to allow them to obtain care. They solely come when issues have already turn out to be difficult, just like the case we noticed at the moment.”

As Elidje tried to save lots of the lady's life, she requested the household to explain the incident. She didn't communicate Arabic and requested the native nurse to learn how many males carried out the assault. However the nurse was too ashamed to ask.

1000's of latest refugees from Mali, principally ladies and youngsters, have settled simply inside Mauritania in current weeks, in shelters made of material and branches. The closest refugee camp is full, complicating efforts to deal with and report sexual assaults.

Two just lately arrived ladies discreetly pulled AP journalists apart, adjusting scarves over their faces. They mentioned they'd arrived per week in the past after armed white males got here to their village.

“They took all the things from us. They burned our homes. They killed our husbands,” one mentioned. “However that’s not all they did. They tried to rape us.”

The boys entered the home the place she was by herself and undressed her, she mentioned, including that she defended herself “by the grace of Allah.”

As she spoke, the second lady began crying and trembling. She had scratch marks on her neck. She was not able to telling her story.

“We're nonetheless terrified by what we went by way of,” she mentioned.

Individually, a 3rd lady mentioned that what the white males did to her in Mali final month when she was alone at residence “stays between God and me.”

A fourth mentioned she watched a number of armed white males drag her 18-year-old daughter into their home. She fled and has not seen her daughter once more.

The ladies declined the suggestion to talk with support staff, a few of whom are locals. They mentioned they weren't prepared to speak about it with anybody else.

Russia’s Protection Ministry didn't reply to questions, however an data company that the US State Division has known as a part of the “Kremlin’s disinformation marketing campaign” known as the AP’s investigation into Africa Corps pretend information.

Allegations of rapes and different sexual assaults have been already occurring earlier than Wagner remodeled into Africa Corps.

One refugee instructed the AP she witnessed a mass rape in her village in March 2024.

“The Wagner group burned seven males alive in entrance of us with gasoline.” she mentioned. Then they gathered the ladies and raped them, she mentioned, together with her 70-year-old mom.

“After my mom was raped, she couldn’t bear to reside,” she mentioned. Her mom died a month later.

Within the worst-known case of sexual assault involving Russian fighters in Africa, the UN in a 2023 report mentioned a minimum of 58 ladies and ladies had been raped or sexually assaulted in an assault on Moura village by Malian troops and others that witnesses described as “armed white males."

In response, Mali’s authorities expelled the UN peacekeeping mission. Since then, gathering correct information on the bottom about conflict-related sexual violence has turn out to be almost inconceivable.

The AP interviewed 5 of the ladies from Moura, who now keep in a displacement camp. They mentioned they'd been blindfolded and raped for hours by a number of males.

Three of the ladies mentioned they hadn't spoken about it to anybody aside from support staff. The opposite two dared to inform their husbands, months later.

“I stored silent with my household for worry of being rejected or checked out in a different way. It’s shameful,” one mentioned.

The 14-year-old whose household fled to Mauritania is recovering. She mentioned she can't bear in mind something because the assault. Her household and MSF mentioned she is talking to a psychiatrist – considered one of simply six working within the nation.

Assist staff are frightened about others who by no means say a factor.

“It appears that evidently battle over time will get worse and worse and worse. There's much less regard for human life, whether or not it’s males, ladies or kids,” mentioned MSF’s Molenaar, and broke into tears. “It’s a battle.”