The Malian Armed Forces said on Wednesday that its army chief ordered an investigation into a video where a man wearing a Malian military uniform used a machete to cut into a corpse in the presence of his peers. The army chief said the man violated Mali’s military values by committing a rare atrocity comparable to cannibalism.

Individuals around the man laughed as the man said he was going to consume the liver from the corpse in the video. While X (formerly Twitter) removed the video from its platform, the Malian Armed Forces stated that it mobilized competent services to identify the man and verify the authenticity of the video.

Human Rights Watch has reported that Mali’s humanitarian and human rights situation “remains dire,” with “ongoing abuses by armed Islamist groups, state security forces [] and government-aligned foreign fighters.” The US State Department has expressed concerns about the Mali government’s security forces, noting instances of arbitrary arrest and unlawful detention.

Mali has been marred by enduring conflict since gaining independence from French rule in 1960, notably between ethnic Tuareg tribes and the Malian government. The situation intensified with the emergence of Islamist armed groups, linked to Al-Qaeda and ISIS. Despite the 2015 “Agreement for Peace and Reconciliation in Mali,” tensions persisted. In 2021, Mali faced its third coup in a decade, culminating in Colonel Assimi Goïta seizing power. The military junta’s governance has drawn widespread international condemnation and exacerbated clashes across the nation.

The UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) announced on December 11, 2023 that it would close after ten years of service. Mali previously called upon the UN to withdraw from the country “without delay” in June. The UN began withdrawing the mission in July. In January this year, Mali, alongside Niger and Burkina Faso, withdrew from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which meant that victims of abuse no longer have the opportunity to seek justice through the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice.