Students defy military regime after ban on their association

A group of militant students in Mali is defying the military government, which has banned their association, by organising protest action to overturn the ban and gain public support.

Ministers dissolved the Association des élèves et étudiants du Mali (Association of Pupils and Students of Mali), or AEEM, on 13 March, accusing it of being responsible for violence and confrontation for several years, causing trouble within schools and universities, disturbing courses, committing murders and causing destruction of public and private property by violent street demonstrations and illegal possession of weapons, reported Le Monde.

The government statement referred to armed confrontations “between the different clans of this association”, the latest of which, on 28 February, had “caused the death of a young student … and several serious injuries. In view of these reports, AEEM is dissolved”.

Opposing the military government

AEEM members have rejected the military government’s ban. But, while the association’s national organisers are looking to take legal action to restore its legitimacy, a group of radical students is preparing for militant action, reported Radio France International, or RFI.

They have formed a crisis centre, which “strongly condemns all attempts to muzzle the voice of students by depriving them of their freedom of association”, and declared itself ready to defend AEEM at all costs, reported RFI. “We are not afraid of reprisals, whether prison, physical elimination or any form of suppression,” said the group in a statement.

The students invoked “fundamental freedoms” and AEEM’s action in 1991 when it played a major role in opposition to, then in the fall of, the military dictator Moussa Traoré – whose memory has been rehabilitated by the current regime, reported RFI.

“We will never accept the suppression of part of the history of Malian democracy,” declared the students, who demanded “the immediate and unconditional release” of their members who were currently in detention, RFI reported.

According to an unnamed researcher quoted by RFI, the ability of AEEM alone to mobilise opposition was weak; but opponents of the military regime from outside the student community contacted by RFI saw an opportunity for all dissenters to take part.

They include activists from the organisation Synergie d’action pour le Mali, which includes political parties and leading politicians as well as the wider civil society, and who are demanding an end to the transition military government. — Compiled by Jane Marshall.

This article is drawn from local media. University World News cannot vouch for the accuracy of the original reports.