A/HRC/34/72 I. Introduction 1. The present report is submitted in accordance with Human Rights Council resolution 31/28, adopted on 24 March 2016, in which the Council renewed the mandate of the Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in Mali for one year with a view to assisting the Government of Mali in its efforts to promote and protect human rights and requested him to submit a report to the Council at its thirty-fourth session. 2. In the present report, which covers the period from 1 April to 30 November 2016, the Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in Mali, Suliman Baldo, gives an account of his seventh visit to Mali, from 7 to 16 November 2016. The report is based on information collected from government authorities, United Nations bodies operating in the country, national and international organizations dealing with humanitarian issues and human rights, as well as on the testimonies of associations and families of victims of serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law. 3. The Independent Expert wishes to thank the Government of Mali for facilitating his stay in the country and granting him access to all the national and local officials that he asked to meet. During his seventh visit, as with the previous visits, the Independent Expert met with high-ranking officials, including the Minister of Justice and Human Rights, Keeper of the Seals, the Minister of Defence and Veterans’ Affairs, and the Minister for the Advancement of Women, Children and the Family. 4. The Independent Expert also met the members of the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission and the Chairperson of the new National Human Rights Commission. He travelled to Timbuktu and Goundam, where he met with civilian authorities and victims’ associations. 5. The Independent Expert held talks with representatives of civil society, associations of victims in northern Mali and a youth association, as well as with representatives of the Platform and the Coordination des mouvements de l’Azawad (CMA), the diplomatic corps and United Nations bodies. 6. The Independent Expert wishes to thank Mahamat Annadif, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Mali and Head of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA), Koen Davidse, the Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General for political affairs, and the staff of the Human Rights and Protection Division of MINUSMA. The technical and logistical support from the United Nations system in Mali was essential for facilitating and ensuring the success of the Independent Expert’s seventh visit. II. General situation in the country A. The political situation 7. Since his sixth visit in March 2016, the Independent Expert has noted that the delay in the implementation of the peace agreement, due to the mistrust between the signatory parties, is causing much anxiety and contributing to the creation of significant difficulties in the political and security areas. These difficulties in turn raise new obstacles to the implementation of the agreement, in particular by delaying the re-establishment of public authorities in affected regions and the implementation of the operational mechanism of coordination and joint patrols. 8. The reporting period was marked by defections from signatory armed groups, the Groupe d’autodéfense des Touaregs Imghad et leurs alliés and the Coordination des mouvements de l’Azawad (CMA), and by bloody clashes between the two groups in the regions of Kidal and Gao in July, which often assumed an ethnic dimension and resulted in serious human rights violations. GE.17-02058 3