The IPI global network welcomes news of progress in the inquiry into the 2013 killing of French journalists Ghislaine Dupont and Claude Verlon in Mali after a judge formally requested the declassification of French military documents relevant to the case. IPI calls on the French Ministry of the Armed Forces to declassify all remaining documents in order to shed full light on the killing and secure an end to the continued impunity in the case.
Dupont and Verlon, who worked for Radio France Internationale (RFI), were abducted and killed in northern Mali on November 2, 2013, shortly after interviewing Amberri Ag Rhissa, one of the heads of the separatist National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA). The case reverberated globally: In 2013, the U.N. adopted a resolution marking November 2 as International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists following their killing.
The Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) subsequently claimed responsibility for the killings, claiming it was in retaliation for France’s decision to intervene against jihadist groups in the country earlier that year.
In June 2021, Bayes Ag Bakabo, the prime suspect behind the abduction that led to the killings, was killed by French soldiers during an operation in northern Mali. He was reported to have been a member of AQIM as well as the owner of the pick-up truck that was found abandoned in the desert near the journalists’ bodies. Two suspects are believed to still be alive: Sidan Ag Hita, one of the alleged masterminds, and Hamadi Ag Mohamed, one of four men said to have carried out the abduction.
Despite these claims and subsequent developments, the exact circumstances of the killings remain unclear. The latest declassification request was made as part of an ongoing civil lawsuit filed by friends and family of the journalists. They are seeking to lift “top-secret” classifications on documents that they believe could shed further light on the murders.
In April 2021, the U.N.’s then-special rapporteur for extrajudicial killings, Agnes Callamard, accused the French military of hampering the investigation into this murder, saying France was hiding behind claims of threats to national security in failing to arrest and question suspects.
The declassification of the remaining documents therefore presents another opportunity to push for complete accountability and end impunity. IPI urges both the French and Malian authorities to fully cooperate in order to establish the full facts behind the killings of Dupont and Verlon and ensure that all those responsible face justice.