A/HRC/25/72 (Gossi Commune). In another incident in the Timbuktu region, 20 kilometres north of Gossi, a Fulani businessman was reportedly abducted and murdered on 2 December 2013. His house was looted before he was killed. B. Inter- and intra-communal clashes 57. The independent expert is particularly concerned about recent waves of violence between ethnic and racial communities in northern Mali, notably between Arabs, Fulani, Tuaregs and Songhai, which have resulted in loss of life in each of those communities. Six serious clashes were reported during the period covered by this report in Kidal, Gao and Timbuktu, with a death toll of at least 20 persons. The clashes are exacerbated by criminal activities, raids, drug and human trafficking and the circulation of firearms, all of which fuel conflicts. 58. One of the most worrisome aspects of these clashes is the failure to distinguish between members of each community, who are no longer perceived as individuals responsible for their own acts. In such situations, there is a very high risk of serious human rights violations, because acts by individuals are attributed to an entire community, whose members are then in danger of being targeted, not for acts that they are suspected of committing, but for being members of that community. 59. One emblematic case of such inter-communal violence occurred on 31 October 2013 in the village of Ekawayane, which is located in the Aljounoub Commune in the Timbuktu region. It involved a punitive expedition following the alleged murder of a young Tuareg on 30 October 2013 by an Arab in the village of Tilemsi, about 190 kilometres from Goundam. Young armed Tuaregs reportedly attacked the village of Ekawayane, which is mainly inhabited by Arabs. Two Arabs, including the head of the village, were reported to have been killed. Six other Arabs were reportedly abducted by MNLA elements in Tilemsi on 30 October for their alleged involvement in the death of the Tuareg. There is no information on the fate of these persons. 60. There have also been clashes within the Tuareg community, between Ifoghas and Idnans, in particular in Tin-Essako, Talahandak and Tinzahouatene, causing insecurity and leading on 27 November 2013 to the abduction and summary execution of two persons. Both communities are affiliated with MNLA, but do not agree on whether the movement should be secular or Islamic in nature. 61. The independent expert notes with concern that Tuareg society is composed of clans and a confederation of clans with a rigid hierarchical structure that ensures that the Bellas, dark-skinned Tuaregs still regarded as slaves and who are denied their inherent human rights and dignity, are kept at the bottom of the social scale. That hierarchical structure also has a generational dimension, since MNLA appears to be composed chiefly of young people determined to overthrow the established order in their community and impose social mobility by force of arms. 62. These internal dynamics of Tuareg society lead to competition between clans for power in the region. The absence of a strong presence of the Malian State in the north has accelerated and radicalized these intra-communal tensions, which have flared up periodically in Malian society since independence in the form of armed rebellion. This has a destabilizing effect on the entire country. At the same time, some Tuareg soldiers in Mali’s defence and security forces do not hesitate to use the army and their position in the armed forces to enhance the power of their clan within their community and thus settle accounts, sometimes to the detriment of human rights. 12 GE.14-10118