Al-Qa’ida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) held a number of hostages in northern Mali.
The group killed some hostages and released others. There was no progress in passing
laws to give women equal rights or to abolish the death penalty. Thirteen people were
sentenced to death, but no executions were reported.
AQIM intensified its activities in some sub-Saharan countries including Mali throughout
the year. In September, when two Malian civilians were killed by the Mauritanian air
force shelling an AQIM base, Mauritania apologized to Mali. In October, President
Amadou Toumani Touré asked Saharan countries to strengthen co-operation in the fight
against AQIM.
The Bill for Persons and Family Code, which grants equal rights to women and sparked
controversy in 2009, was again debated by sub-committees at the National Assembly.
A vote on the Bill did not take place before the end of the year.
Seven hostages captured by AQIM in Mauritania and Niger and held in Mali were released
during 2010.
AQIM threatened to kill Pierre Camatte, a French hostage abducted in November 2009,
if four al-Qa’ida prisoners held in Mali were not released. In February, around the
same time as Pierre Camatte was released by AQIM, the four prisoners were set free;
the Malian authorities declared that they had served their prison sentences.
Michel Germaneau, a French humanitarian aid worker captured in northern Niger in April
and taken to northern Mali, was killed by AQIM in July. A few days earlier, the Mauritanian
army had launched a failed attempt with French support to release him.
In August, two Malians were abducted by AQIM in Kidal. One, a member of the security
forces, was released a few days later. Sidi Mohamed Ag Chérif, known as Merzuk, a
guide working for the customs office, was killed two days after his abduction.
In September, seven people including nationals from France, Togo and Madagascar working
for AREVA and Satom, two French companies, were abducted in Arlit, northern Niger
and held by AQIM in northern Mali. AQIM later demanded a large ransom and the repeal
of a French law (banning the Islamic veil) to secure their release.
There was no progress towards the abolition of the death penalty. A draft bill to
abolish the death penalty proposed by the government in 2007 was again postponed by
the National Assembly. Thirteen people were sentenced to death during the year, although
no executions were reported.
In May, two brothers, Siaka and Kassoum Diallo, were sentenced to death for murder
by the Bamako Assize Court.
