Military Reform: National Pact
Implementations
Military Reform – 1992
No information is available regarding the integration of the Azaouad movement combatants. Nor is any information available on other military reform. Nevertheless, the government that came into power was entirely civilian. This was possible despite the government’s decision to appoint a civilian defense minister which led to an initial period of mistrust between the government and the military.1
- Robin-Edward Poulton and Ibrahim ag Youssouf, A Peace in Timbuktu: Democratic Governance, Development and African Peacemaking (United Nations Publication, 1998), 88.
Military Reform – 1993
Negotiations on reintegration modality took place between the government and the Azaouad movement representatives in 1993. The government of Mali had proposed reintegration be on an individual basis and an optional free choice, while the Tuaregs demanded that this condition be applied to all elements of the Tuaregs who had rebelled against the government. On February 14, 1993, the government of Mali and the Azaouad movement signed an agreement to integrate about 600 Tuaregs into army units.1 Accordingly, a total of 610 Tuaregs combatants were integrated from the following rebel groups:
MPA= Le Mouvement Populaire de l.Azawad (Popular Movement of Azawad) – 120
FPLA = Le Front Populaire de Liberation de l.Azawad (Popular Front for the Liberation of Azawad) – 150
ARLA = LÕArmee Revolutionnaire de Liberation de l.Azawad (Revolutionary Army for the Liberation of Azawad) – 140
FIAA = Le Front Islamique Arabe de l.Azawad (The Islamic Arab Front of Azawad) — 190
Independent units — 10 2
- “Mali: 600 Taureg Rebels Integrated into National Army,” BBC Summary of World Broadcasts, February 15, 1993.
- Kalifa Keita, Conflict And Conflict Resolution in The Sahel: the Tuareg Insurgency in Mali,”Strategic Studies Institute, 1998, accessed June 14, 2011, www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/pdffiles/pub200.pdf.
Military Reform – 1994
No significant progress was made in terms of integrating further ex-combatants into the army units. After the April and May negotiations in 1994, the MFUA demanded that the 2,360 combatants be integrated into the security forces, yet feelings of discontent emerged within the rebel movements when MUFA demanded 40% for the FIAA combatants and 20% each for other three movementsÕ combatants. The MUFA allegedly had 10,000 combatants and demanded that 3,000 of these be integrated into the armed forces and that 4,000 be re-inserted into society. These figures were largely inflated and were larger than the Malian armed force. The government of Mali had offered to take 1,000 MUFA soldiers into the army.1
Military Reform – 1995
No significant progress was reported.
Military Reform – 1996
Some very important developments took place in 1996 regarding the integration of armed combatants and the military code of conduct. On the integration side, 664 combatants from the MPA, 253 from the FPLA, 148 from the ARLA and 135 from the FIAA were integrated into the army, national guard and gendarmerie. These integrations took place at the ranks of enlisted men, noncommissioned officers, and officers. Altogether 24 combatants were appointed at the rank of officer.1
With regards to the military code of conduct, the Malian defense minister organized a seminar on civil-military relations in July in the capital city Bamako. The aim for the seminar was, in light of the decades of military dictatorship, to impress the new democratic culture onto the armed forces. These seminars were said to enrich the military curricula during the crucial time of training newly integrated former Tuareg rebels.2
- Kalifa Keita, “Conflict And Conflict Resolution in The Sahel.”
- Robin-Edward Poulton Ibrahim ag Youssouf, A Peace in Timbuktu, 74.
Military Reform – 1997
Military reform and integration took place in 1996 as provided in the 1992 National Pact.
Military Reform – 1998
Military reform and integration took place in 1996 as provided in the 1992 National Pact. By 1998, Mali had the following security and military strengths: Army – 7,000 persons; Naval Service 70 persons; Air Service 450 persons; Gendarmerie 1,500 person; National Guard of Mali 700 persons; and National Police 1000 persons.1
Military Reform – 1999
No further developments observed.
Military Reform – 2000
No further developments observed.
Military Reform – 2001
No further developments observed.