A/HRC/43/76 because he had allegedly collaborated with the Malian Armed Forces. The Independent Expert learned that, when armed groups on motorcycles and pick-up trucks had carried out a complex attack against the camp of the Malian battalion of the G5 Sahel Joint Force, between 4 p.m. and 7 a.m. on 30 September 2019, the attackers ordered the villagers to leave, on pain of being considered collaborators of the Malian Armed Forces. 39. The Independent Expert has received reports of human rights violations attributed to armed groups that are signatories to the Agreement on Peace and Reconciliation in Mali in Gao, Ménaka and Timbuktu regions. On 7 October 2019, at the weekly market in Goundam (Goundam commune and cercle), members of the Coordination des mouvements de l’Azawad captured four civilians suspected of involvement in several robberies along the Timbuktu-Goundam road. The members of the Coordination des mouvements de l’Azawad reportedly took the four men to a thicket where they were severely beaten. The men were then released after being warned not to engage in crime. During the morning of 1 October 2019, presumed members of the Groupe d’autodéfense des Touaregs Imghad et leurs alliés reportedly abducted two civilians, who were members of the Fulani and Songhai communities, at Wabaria village market. The Fulani man was subsequently released and was found at around noon by members of the Operational Coordination Mechanism, who took him to the hospital in Gao, where he was admitted with multiple bruises. The Independent Expert understands that the second man who had been abducted has not been released. The Gao gendarmerie has reportedly opened an investigation into the incident. The Independent Expert learned that elements of the Groupe d’autodéfense des Touaregs Imghad et leurs alliés had abducted or captured men in the context of a counter-terrorism operation. He is concerned about the participation of non-State armed groups in the fight against terrorism. The Independent Expert has received information that some members of groups active in Gourma region, where the village of Wabaria is located, had been victims of many serious human rights violations. 40. The Independent Expert wishes to point out that the attacks and other incidents, including the use of improvised explosive devices and the targeting of or attacks on protected personnel, such as peacekeeping troops, constitute violations of international humanitarian law. The Independent Expert has learned that, on 20 August 2019, a MINUSMA vehicle hit an improvised explosive device approximately 2.5 km north-east of the MINUSMA camp in Kidal and seven Guinean peacekeeping troops, all men, were wounded. The attack was claimed on social media the same day by the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims. The Independent Expert learned that this was the fourth such incident of an improvised explosive devices being used against MINUSMA peacekeepers in Kidal region since June 2019. On 20 April 2019, an Egyptian peacekeeper was killed and four members of his unit were injured by a landmine explosion as their convoy travelled through central Mali. MINUSMA is the United Nations peacekeeping operation mission that has suffered most fatalities, with more than 120 troops killed in hostile acts since its deployment in 2013. 3. Contemporary forms of slavery 41. The Independent Expert learned that, on 17 September 2019, a member of the antislavery organization Rassemblement malien pour la fraternité et le progrès was expelled from his village of origin in Kayes region on the orders of the village chief. He was reportedly forbidden to use the village well or to obtain food in the village. His wife had allegedly been beaten several times by a group of young people. These incidents prompted some 40 members of his family to flee the area and seek refuge in another village. In July 2019, some 50 people were forced by local traditional figures to flee from another village in the region after contesting their status as slaves. B. Intercommunal and intracommunal conflict 42. The Independent Expert notes an alarming rise in armed violence in a context of intercommunal tension, particularly in the centre of the country. He also notes that the reconciliation initiatives and efforts undertaken by the Government, with the support of civil society, have helped to reduce the number of large-scale attacks, but that smaller-scale GE.20-00529 9