A/HRC/23/57 I. Introduction 1. This report is submitted pursuant to resolution 22/18 in which the Human Rights Council asked the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to provide it with an updated report on the human rights situation in Mali for consideration at its twenty-third session. The aim of the report is to give an account of the situation prevailing since the High Commissioner’s previous report2 was submitted to the Council on 12 March 2013. The report covers the period up to 20 May 2013. 2. On 25 April 2013, in resolution 2100, the United Nations Security Council decided to establish the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) and that its mandate should be the following: (a) stabilization of key population centres and support for the re-establishment of State authority throughout the country; (b) support for the implementation of the transitional road map, including the national political dialogue and the electoral process; (c) protection of civilians and United Nations personnel; (d) promotion and protection of human rights; (e) support for humanitarian assistance; (f) support for cultural preservation; and (g) support for national and international justice. 3. The report is based on research carried out by a mission deployed in Mali by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) between 18 February and 22 March 2013 (hereinafter “the Mission”) and by the Human Rights Division of MINUSMA. The report also takes into account the findings of the missions deployed by the MINUSMA Human Rights Division in Burkina Faso, Mauritania and Niger, in April and May 2013, to investigate the situation of Malian refugees and to collect information about the human rights situation prevailing in their places of origin at the time of their flight. 4. Thanks to ongoing improvements in the human rights situation in the north in the wake of Operation Serval, our teams were able to travel to previously inaccessible areas including Konna, Mopti, Sévaré, Timbuktu, Gao, Tessalit and Kidal. They were thus able to confirm the allegations of human rights violations contained in the High Commissioner’s previous report and to ascertain the scale of the trauma suffered by communities and the victims of grave human rights violations committed under the area’s occupation by armed groups since January 2012. 5. Significant challenges persist and continue to hamper the effective conduct of investigations into these human rights violations. First, it is difficult to verify certain allegations as access to the north of the country is restricted for security reasons. Secondly, the human rights teams found that some actors had a tendency to distort information, sometimes claiming to speak on behalf of the communities of the north. Lastly, the fact that certain witnesses and victims are reluctant to cooperate with the investigators for fear of reprisals remains a major obstacle. 6. The OHCHR teams met with the Minister of Justice and Keeper of the Seals, the Minister of Defence and Veterans’ Affairs, the Minister for Territorial Administration, Decentralization and Regional Planning, and the Minister for the Family, the Advancement of Women and Children, as well as with local authorities in the northern region. The teams 2 4 Information on the legal framework applicable to the situation in Mali and on the geographical and historical context in the country is included in the High Commissioner’s previous report (A/HRC/22/33 and Corr.1, paras. 5 to 17). GE.13-15228