BAMAKO, Mali — Two outspoken pro-democracy activists were forcibly taken by armed men in separate incidents Thursday after publicly criticizing Mali’s military-led government and calling for the restoration of constitutional rule, according to their families and political allies.
Alassane Abba, secretary-general of the Codem political party, and El Bachir Thiam, a member of the Yelema party, were both seized hours apart in what relatives and opposition figures describe as politically motivated abductions.
Abba was taken from his home in Bamako by three hooded men wearing military fatigues and carrying weapons, his son told The Associated Press. “They came in a vehicle with tinted windows and no license plates,” said Alhousseini Jannatta Abba. “These men did not look like common criminals.”
Later the same day, in the town of Kati about nine miles from the capital, Thiam was also forced into a car by armed men and driven to an undisclosed location. The circumstances of both disappearances have alarmed civil society leaders and opposition politicians, who say the military regime is silencing dissent amid growing public pressure for democratic reforms.
Former Prime Minister Moussa Mara, the honorary president of Yelema, demanded Thiam’s release in a video posted on social media. “We learned of the arrest of our activist El Bachir Thiam and I call on the Malian authorities to release him. A country is not built on gag orders,” Mara said.
The disappearances come just days after Mali’s ruling junta suspended all political party activities, shortly after the country witnessed its first pro-democracy demonstration in nearly four years. The ban is seen by critics as an attempt to consolidate power ahead of potential constitutional changes.
Both Abba and Thiam had recently appeared in media interviews, where they denounced the government’s continued delays in holding elections and demanded a return to democratic governance. Similar criticism last month led to the arrest of Mamadou Traoré, president of the opposition party Alternative for Mali, who also condemned the regime’s ties to Russian mercenaries.
Mali’s military ruler, Gen. Assimi Goita, took power following consecutive coups in 2020 and 2021. Last week, a national political conference proposed that Goita be named president for a renewable five-year term — a move widely criticized as a bid to entrench authoritarian rule.
The fate of the two activists remains unknown as their families and party members urge international attention to what they describe as a campaign of repression targeting voices calling for democracy and transparency.
