Anana Ag Haroun
Statement during the rally in favor of Azawad in Paris on February 4, 2012 - by Mossa Ag Attaher.
Dear brothers, dear sisters, dear friends,
Thank you for coming to support Azawad who fights with courage and determination to finally access to its freedom and dignity.
The battle currently led by the MNLA in Azawad is a noble and legitimate battle. It is noble because it aspires to create a society existing in freedom, justice and equality between the different components of Azawad. It is legitimate because it is the emanation of all the people living on this territory, shaped by centuries of cultures and civilizations having previously lived in perfect harmony.
Today, Azawad, in all its components, struggles to free itself of the criminal politics of the Malian State that denies our existence, ruins our territory and starves our people. It is true that we are currently facing a very difficult period, but it is also a crucial period for our future, because there is no better legitimate right than to live in dignity and freedom on your own land and there is nothing worse than being a stranger in your own country.
People and human communities, naturally and since mankind, aspire to justice, freedom and dignity. These are universal aspirations shared by all the populations on earth. The fundamental principles of freedom, justice and dignity should apply to all people, everywhere and anytime, regardless of race, religion, language or culture. These are sacred values applicable to all human beings. There is no reason why the people of Azawad should be deprived.
The movement of Azawad is first of all a set of universal human values that we carry with us since millennia. We believe that the violation of human rights is a serious violation that we cannot accept.
Our movement is working towards the confirmation of the right for humans to freely dispose of themselves, to live in dignity and to enjoy all their natural rights.
The right to self-determination is the most important right derived from the struggles of people in the history of mankind. On behalf of the Universal Human Rights, the principle of criminalization of colonialism and the illegal occupation of the territories of others, on behalf of all similar pacts such as the right of people to chose a governance system that suits them, the right of people to dispose of their lands and their wealth, it’s in the name of all the rights enshrined through international law, that the movement of Azawad, through its various components, resists to those who try to throw them off the wheel of history by any possible means.
This is why, today, we call all international organizations, democrats from around the world and the states of region, to take their responsibility in ending the massacre perpetrated by the Malian regime against the people of Azawad and to support the legitimate claims of Azawadians.
Since Mali's independence, tyranny and arrogance are a daily living for the people of Azawad. The creation of post-colonial states such as Mali are for us a succession of great troubles experienced in a general indifference unworthy to the human race.
Although the liberation movement of Azawad is one of the oldest movements struggling for the acquisition of their legitimate rights, it continues to suffer from neglect and indifference of the international community to the point where the people of Azawad wonder if they are eveb concerned, like other populations, when it comes to Human Rights? Why does the entire world keep ignoring the genocide they are facing for so many years?
Since the foundation of the State of Mali, Azawed suffers from a succession of genocides, revolts, so called agreements never respected, so called reassurances, displacement of populations, forced assimilations and humiliations, without anyone ever reacting. Nevertheless we are also men and women, like all other men and woman who have experienced similar situations such as in Eritrea, Kosovo, East Timor, South Sudan and Darfur.
The distress of the Azawad people
Before the French colonialism in Africa, the people of Azawad were a community living under a system of federations based on the extent of their land. They controlled the entire territory in a democratic conduct rare in Africa, and characterized by the separation of its authorities, recognizable in all modern systems of nowadays.
There were three Sultanates on the Azawad land, now known as Northern Mali. These sultanates coordinated in the management of the entire country through a common political and social system in respect with the diversity of people. The scientific sector was also developed, particularly in the city of Tinbouctou, well known for its prosperity in traditional industry and economic self-sufficient.
People of Azawad generally lived at peace with their neighbors. They were bound together by their good-neighborly relations, trade and cultural exchanges. After the French colonization, between 1894 and 1954, the Azawadians have continuously conducted battles of resistance against the French occupation to defend their land as well as their social, cultural and political heritage, established since thousands of years.
With the French withdrawal from Africa the people of Azawad realized the importance and seriousness of any decision taken at this historical moment. So the people of Azawad presented a letter signed by nearly four hundred emblematic figures representing all components of Azawad. This letter to the French government demanded the return of independence of the Azawad territory instead of the assignment to another territory. The people of Azawad received a promise of independence. But the promise was not kept because of certain regional and international interventions and Azawad eventually got linked to a foreign body that never guaranteed any economical, social, cultural or technological development, not even a minimum of respect for human dignity.
The reality of Mali began to manifest itself. It was a state that was in for taking and not for giving nor sharing. The first projects in Azawad were to impose communism and the socialistic thoughts of the government led by dictator Modibo Keita. This policy was based on the dispossession of all land and animals of the Azawadians to become state assets. This policy was also based on the policy of forced marriages to eliminate the ethnic diversity of the peoples of Azawad. Clearly requiring the disappearance of the Azawad entity with its own peculiarities. It was not the unity of people and the creation of a democratic state in which all contribute and benefit from cultural and ethnic diversity.
The first uprisings against the dictatorship were in 1963. But Mali used odious methods to eradicate the fight for freedom by murdering the elderly - the guardians of memory -, burning down the camps, exterminating the animals and poisoning of the wells. These practices reflecting well the policy of the State of Mali whose real objective was not just to eliminate elements of the revolt, but more an ethnic cleansing aimed to eradicate the entire community, accompanied by starvation and scorching of the land.
The resistance was aborted with unspeakable brutality, wiith the help of Ben Bella in Algeria and Morocco's King Hassan II, who turned the political leaders of the revolution over to the Malian government, a shock for the people of Azawad. That’s how the uprising of 1964 ended.
The situation went on with killings and displacements, starvation, and humiliation. Attempts continued to eliminate indigenous cultures and eradicate the national sentiment of Azawadians, resulting in a second revolution in 1990. This second revolution was characterized by massacres even worse than those of Modibo Keita. The events of the second revolution will lead to the 1st agreement in Algeria providing a special status for the areas of Azawad. But Mali quickly found an easy way not to respect the Treaty agreements by organizing a “coup” against Moussa Traore. The role of Amadou Toumani Toure, as a Mali politician, began, in 1993-1994, with the formation of a militia against the Azawad, aiming to question their rights of existence in Africa and to accelerate the migration of the population. These militias had already committed massacres against civilians, killing over 700 civilians, like women, children and elderly. All this happened under the eyes of regional and international community.
The dramatical situation of the people of Azawad persisted until the uprising of 2006, ending with the 3rd Agreement between the people of Azawad and the Malian government, always under the supervision of Algeria, and, like the previous agreements, it was supposed to guarantee the conditions for respect of private life for all cultural and political wings of Azawad, speed up development projects, reduce the number of military troops in populated areas and to form military units consisting mainly of people of Azawad to take over the security of the region. But, again, since the signing of the agreement, exactly the opposite happened. Mali continued to commit crimes, like the murder of Barka Sheikh, member of the above uprising, and his companion, Mohamed Ag Mossa. The people of Azawad never saw any suspect brought to justice. On the contrary, the President signed the parliamentary decision in 1996 to speak free all those responsible for events related to Azawad. The people of Azawad being considered as criminals deserving what had happened to them. This was a strategy to dominate all orientated and deliberated ethnical minorities, strengthening the definition of the State having the monopoly and right to use force.
The results of the annexation of Azawad to Mali
Maintenance of despair in the Azawad community, attempting to bypass any hope of having a role in the political, social, cultural and economic governance; blocking all attempts of revolution in quest of achieving a small portion of their aspirations, eliminating the feeling of need to preserve the cultural and social peculiarities of Azawad. When referring to the protection of humanism of Azawad, she was opposed, using the methods of malice and cunning, to create chaos in the society by putting one part of the population up against the other, in order to prevent any collective efforts. All this, of course, accompanied by the systematic refusal of the Malian government to implement the signed agreements.
Regional pressures on the people of Azawad during each uprising against their bitter life realities, and forcing them to agreements that contain little of their aspirations for their nation. Moreover, the Malian government does not hesitate, in the eyes of the mediators and the international community, to betray the terms of these agreements. Promises are thrown at the Azawad population, but in Mali, the experiences of the agreements of 1991, 1992, 1996, 2006 and 2008 show that the government never has had any intention of applying whatsoever.
The voluntarily transformation of the Azawad region into a region sustainable to all prohibited activities with in this case, the implementation of the alleged cell of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. This providential reason allowed the Malian government to continue its activities such as kidnapping, massacres and political marginalization.
The Malian government uses the presence of terrorism as a pretext to justify its crimes against humanity committed against the people of Azawad. The existence of this terrorist organization gives adequate coverage to the Malian government to continue its blockade on our densely populated areas in order to, slowly but surely, continue the political killing of our region, directed by the highest level of the Malian government.
For all these reasons, our movement has decided to combat these criminal and perverse acts. And actually, judge for yourself, but after the fighting that opposed our armies, they attacked our families, burned down our houses, destroyed our properties and terrorized our women and children. To take revenge on the defeat of the Malian army on our territory, Mali has not found better than to attack our tamasheq (Tuareg) families living in Bamako and Kati. Hundreds of tamasheq families hurriedly left their homes reaching for the borders with Senegal, Mauritania, Burkina Faso and Niger to escape the abuse against them. We remind the international opinion that, contrary to the Malian army, our troops only attack military institutions and never civilians.
The Malian army has to know that she can never rob us of our determination to conduct our fight for freedom until the end. Through their irresponsible actions, they will only reinforce our beliefs in the ideals that inspire us. The exile of our sisters, our elders, our mothers across the country must end! We have a territory and it belong to us since the beginning of time.
However, we wish to remind the regional and international opinion that this war was forced on us by Mali who did not respect any of its commitments and continues to refuse any dialogue on the principle of respect for the right to self-determination of the people of Azawad. We remain open to any dialogue, but only as part of the principle of self-determination. The MNLA warns any party that will reject the will of self-determination of the Azawad people. We reject the current negotiations and we dissociate with the agreements currently taking place in Algiers.
Our fight is correct and legitimate. Azawad will regain its freedom. Nothing and nobody will distract us from our goal. The MNLA is more determined than ever to continue military operations until the official recognition by Mali of the right to self-determination of the people of Azawad.
We simply ask the various international organizations, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the United Nations Refugee Agency, the governmental and non-governmental humanitarian organizations, to answer the call of the Azawad populations who suffer from this war situation imposed on them by Mali in order to make them give up on themselves and to make them melt into a system that despises and tortures their existence.
Tanemmirt-nwen.
Thank you for your solidarity and support.
Mossa Ag Attaher
Communications Officer of the MNLA
Photos du profil
Par : Anana Ag Haroun
Statement during the rally in favor of Azawad in Paris on February 4, 2012 - by Mossa Ag Attaher.
Dear brothers, dear sisters, dear friends,
Thank you for coming to support Azawad who fights with courage and determination to finally access to its freedom and dignity.
The battle currently led by the MNLA in Azawad is a noble and legitimate battle. It is noble because it aspires to create a society existing in freedom, justice and equality between the different components of Azawad. It is legitimate because it is the emanation of all the people living on this territory, shaped by centuries of cultures and civilizations having previously lived in perfect harmony.
Today, Azawad, in all its components, struggles to free itself of the criminal politics of the Malian State that denies our existence, ruins our territory and starves our people. It is true that we are currently facing a very difficult period, but it is also a crucial period for our future, because there is no better legitimate right than to live in dignity and freedom on your own land and there is nothing worse than being a stranger in your own country.
People and human communities, naturally and since mankind, aspire to justice, freedom and dignity. These are universal aspirations shared by all the populations on earth. The fundamental principles of freedom, justice and dignity should apply to all people, everywhere and anytime, regardless of race, religion, language or culture. These are sacred values applicable to all human beings. There is no reason why the people of Azawad should be deprived.
The movement of Azawad is first of all a set of universal human values that we carry with us since millennia. We believe that the violation of human rights is a serious violation that we cannot accept.
Our movement is working towards the confirmation of the right for humans to freely dispose of themselves, to live in dignity and to enjoy all their natural rights.
The right to self-determination is the most important right derived from the struggles of people in the history of mankind. On behalf of the Universal Human Rights, the principle of criminalization of colonialism and the illegal occupation of the territories of others, on behalf of all similar pacts such as the right of people to chose a governance system that suits them, the right of people to dispose of their lands and their wealth, it’s in the name of all the rights enshrined through international law, that the movement of Azawad, through its various components, resists to those who try to throw them off the wheel of history by any possible means.
This is why, today, we call all international organizations, democrats from around the world and the states of region, to take their responsibility in ending the massacre perpetrated by the Malian regime against the people of Azawad and to support the legitimate claims of Azawadians.
Since Mali's independence, tyranny and arrogance are a daily living for the people of Azawad. The creation of post-colonial states such as Mali are for us a succession of great troubles experienced in a general indifference unworthy to the human race.
Although the liberation movement of Azawad is one of the oldest movements struggling for the acquisition of their legitimate rights, it continues to suffer from neglect and indifference of the international community to the point where the people of Azawad wonder if they are eveb concerned, like other populations, when it comes to Human Rights? Why does the entire world keep ignoring the genocide they are facing for so many years?
Since the foundation of the State of Mali, Azawed suffers from a succession of genocides, revolts, so called agreements never respected, so called reassurances, displacement of populations, forced assimilations and humiliations, without anyone ever reacting. Nevertheless we are also men and women, like all other men and woman who have experienced similar situations such as in Eritrea, Kosovo, East Timor, South Sudan and Darfur.
The distress of the Azawad people
Before the French colonialism in Africa, the people of Azawad were a community living under a system of federations based on the extent of their land. They controlled the entire territory in a democratic conduct rare in Africa, and characterized by the separation of its authorities, recognizable in all modern systems of nowadays.
There were three Sultanates on the Azawad land, now known as Northern Mali. These sultanates coordinated in the management of the entire country through a common political and social system in respect with the diversity of people. The scientific sector was also developed, particularly in the city of Tinbouctou, well known for its prosperity in traditional industry and economic self-sufficient.
People of Azawad generally lived at peace with their neighbors. They were bound together by their good-neighborly relations, trade and cultural exchanges. After the French colonization, between 1894 and 1954, the Azawadians have continuously conducted battles of resistance against the French occupation to defend their land as well as their social, cultural and political heritage, established since thousands of years.
With the French withdrawal from Africa the people of Azawad realized the importance and seriousness of any decision taken at this historical moment. So the people of Azawad presented a letter signed by nearly four hundred emblematic figures representing all components of Azawad. This letter to the French government demanded the return of independence of the Azawad territory instead of the assignment to another territory. The people of Azawad received a promise of independence. But the promise was not kept because of certain regional and international interventions and Azawad eventually got linked to a foreign body that never guaranteed any economical, social, cultural or technological development, not even a minimum of respect for human dignity.
The reality of Mali began to manifest itself. It was a state that was in for taking and not for giving nor sharing. The first projects in Azawad were to impose communism and the socialistic thoughts of the government led by dictator Modibo Keita. This policy was based on the dispossession of all land and animals of the Azawadians to become state assets. This policy was also based on the policy of forced marriages to eliminate the ethnic diversity of the peoples of Azawad. Clearly requiring the disappearance of the Azawad entity with its own peculiarities. It was not the unity of people and the creation of a democratic state in which all contribute and benefit from cultural and ethnic diversity.
The first uprisings against the dictatorship were in 1963. But Mali used odious methods to eradicate the fight for freedom by murdering the elderly - the guardians of memory -, burning down the camps, exterminating the animals and poisoning of the wells. These practices reflecting well the policy of the State of Mali whose real objective was not just to eliminate elements of the revolt, but more an ethnic cleansing aimed to eradicate the entire community, accompanied by starvation and scorching of the land.
The resistance was aborted with unspeakable brutality, wiith the help of Ben Bella in Algeria and Morocco's King Hassan II, who turned the political leaders of the revolution over to the Malian government, a shock for the people of Azawad. That’s how the uprising of 1964 ended.
The situation went on with killings and displacements, starvation, and humiliation. Attempts continued to eliminate indigenous cultures and eradicate the national sentiment of Azawadians, resulting in a second revolution in 1990. This second revolution was characterized by massacres even worse than those of Modibo Keita. The events of the second revolution will lead to the 1st agreement in Algeria providing a special status for the areas of Azawad. But Mali quickly found an easy way not to respect the Treaty agreements by organizing a “coup” against Moussa Traore. The role of Amadou Toumani Toure, as a Mali politician, began, in 1993-1994, with the formation of a militia against the Azawad, aiming to question their rights of existence in Africa and to accelerate the migration of the population. These militias had already committed massacres against civilians, killing over 700 civilians, like women, children and elderly. All this happened under the eyes of regional and international community.
The dramatical situation of the people of Azawad persisted until the uprising of 2006, ending with the 3rd Agreement between the people of Azawad and the Malian government, always under the supervision of Algeria, and, like the previous agreements, it was supposed to guarantee the conditions for respect of private life for all cultural and political wings of Azawad, speed up development projects, reduce the number of military troops in populated areas and to form military units consisting mainly of people of Azawad to take over the security of the region. But, again, since the signing of the agreement, exactly the opposite happened. Mali continued to commit crimes, like the murder of Barka Sheikh, member of the above uprising, and his companion, Mohamed Ag Mossa. The people of Azawad never saw any suspect brought to justice. On the contrary, the President signed the parliamentary decision in 1996 to speak free all those responsible for events related to Azawad. The people of Azawad being considered as criminals deserving what had happened to them. This was a strategy to dominate all orientated and deliberated ethnical minorities, strengthening the definition of the State having the monopoly and right to use force.
The results of the annexation of Azawad to Mali
Maintenance of despair in the Azawad community, attempting to bypass any hope of having a role in the political, social, cultural and economic governance; blocking all attempts of revolution in quest of achieving a small portion of their aspirations, eliminating the feeling of need to preserve the cultural and social peculiarities of Azawad. When referring to the protection of humanism of Azawad, she was opposed, using the methods of malice and cunning, to create chaos in the society by putting one part of the population up against the other, in order to prevent any collective efforts. All this, of course, accompanied by the systematic refusal of the Malian government to implement the signed agreements.
Regional pressures on the people of Azawad during each uprising against their bitter life realities, and forcing them to agreements that contain little of their aspirations for their nation. Moreover, the Malian government does not hesitate, in the eyes of the mediators and the international community, to betray the terms of these agreements. Promises are thrown at the Azawad population, but in Mali, the experiences of the agreements of 1991, 1992, 1996, 2006 and 2008 show that the government never has had any intention of applying whatsoever.
The voluntarily transformation of the Azawad region into a region sustainable to all prohibited activities with in this case, the implementation of the alleged cell of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. This providential reason allowed the Malian government to continue its activities such as kidnapping, massacres and political marginalization.
The Malian government uses the presence of terrorism as a pretext to justify its crimes against humanity committed against the people of Azawad. The existence of this terrorist organization gives adequate coverage to the Malian government to continue its blockade on our densely populated areas in order to, slowly but surely, continue the political killing of our region, directed by the highest level of the Malian government.
For all these reasons, our movement has decided to combat these criminal and perverse acts. And actually, judge for yourself, but after the fighting that opposed our armies, they attacked our families, burned down our houses, destroyed our properties and terrorized our women and children. To take revenge on the defeat of the Malian army on our territory, Mali has not found better than to attack our tamasheq (Tuareg) families living in Bamako and Kati. Hundreds of tamasheq families hurriedly left their homes reaching for the borders with Senegal, Mauritania, Burkina Faso and Niger to escape the abuse against them. We remind the international opinion that, contrary to the Malian army, our troops only attack military institutions and never civilians.
The Malian army has to know that she can never rob us of our determination to conduct our fight for freedom until the end. Through their irresponsible actions, they will only reinforce our beliefs in the ideals that inspire us. The exile of our sisters, our elders, our mothers across the country must end! We have a territory and it belong to us since the beginning of time.
However, we wish to remind the regional and international opinion that this war was forced on us by Mali who did not respect any of its commitments and continues to refuse any dialogue on the principle of respect for the right to self-determination of the people of Azawad. We remain open to any dialogue, but only as part of the principle of self-determination. The MNLA warns any party that will reject the will of self-determination of the Azawad people. We reject the current negotiations and we dissociate with the agreements currently taking place in Algiers.
Our fight is correct and legitimate. Azawad will regain its freedom. Nothing and nobody will distract us from our goal. The MNLA is more determined than ever to continue military operations until the official recognition by Mali of the right to self-determination of the people of Azawad.
We simply ask the various international organizations, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the United Nations Refugee Agency, the governmental and non-governmental humanitarian organizations, to answer the call of the Azawad populations who suffer from this war situation imposed on them by Mali in order to make them give up on themselves and to make them melt into a system that despises and tortures their existence.
Tanemmirt-nwen.
Thank you for your solidarity and support.
Mossa Ag Attaher
Communications Officer of the MNLA
Photos du profil
Par : Anana Ag Haroun
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