A/HRC/22/33 IV. Context A. Diversity of the population of Mali 6. Mali is very diverse in terms of its ethnic, racial and religious composition. It has 20 ethnic groups, the main ones being the Bambara, Malinke, Soninke or Sarakole. They are all part of the Mande language group and make up more than half of the population. The Peul, Dogon, Songhai, Bobo and Oulé, Toucouleur, Senufo, Diola, Tuaregs and Moors, and other ethnic groups that are smaller in size make up the rest of the population. The Constitution of Mali guarantees the secular nature of the State (arts. 18, 25, 28 and 118). The vast majority of Malians are Muslim. A small minority are Christian or animist. B. Tuareg rebellions in northern Mali and waves of violence and impunity 7. At different times in the history of Mali, the Tuareg communities have claimed their independence in the area they call “Azawad”, which covers the three administrative regions of the north (Gao, Kidal and Timbuktu). They have bitter memories of the first armed rebellion that took place after the proclamation of independence between 1962 and 1963. A second wave of rebellions took place between 1990 and 1995, punctuated with the peace agreements of Tamanrasset in 1991 and the National Pact in 1992. In 1996, the conflict officially ended. Following the Tuareg uprising of May 2006, the Algiers Accords were signed with the Government on 4 July of the same year. Another rebellion took place between 2007 and 2009. After the fall of Muammar Gaddafi in Libya, many Tuareg mercenaries returned to Mali, between September and November 2011 with their weapons. They joined the armed Tuareg activists to found the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) in October 2011. The aim of the Movement is the independence of “Azawad”; it condemns the Malian Government’s failure to comply with the peace accords it signed, which were often accompanied by amnesty laws thereby establishing a culture of impunity. C. Crisis of 2012: control of the north by armed groups 8. Starting in January 2012, MNLA members allegedly attacked army bases in northern Mali, in Ménaka, Aguelhok and Tessalit, and in early February in Kidal. Since then, various attacks have been carried out by MNLA and three Islamist armed groups: AlQaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), Ansar Dine and the Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO). 9. Malian soldiers stationed in the north allegedly fled and officers of Tuareg and Arab origin deserted to join rebels taking with them the troops under their command, thereby greatly weakening the operating capability of the Malian army.4 10. On 6 April 2012, the unilateral declaration of the State of Azawad by MNLA was immediately rejected by ECOWAS and the African Union. Nevertheless, MNLA and Ansar Dine concluded an agreement on 26 May 2012 establishing a State of Azawad. However, the agreement was the subject of clashes between the two movements over the application of sharia. Following the death of the municipal councillor, Mr. Idrissa Oumarou, in Gao, a significant portion of the population rebelled, blaming the crime on MNLA. Taking 4 GE.13-10067 According to a military source, there were around 1,000 men. 7