Mali’s National Transitional Council (CNT) unanimously adopted on Thursday, a bill for the militarization of the police and civil protection.
The reform was easily passed.
Members of Mali’s National Transitional Council, the legislative body that replaced the National Assembly during the transition period, passed the bill on the militarization of the police and civil protection without any opposition.
The police has thus become a new military corps, and its members will henceforth undergo the same training as soldiers.
For the military authorities in Bamako, the challenge is to strengthen the fight against terrorism, which is blighting the West African nation.
According to the text, police officers will have to carry out new missions in the field.
In particular, they will be responsible for the security of the population and their property, but also for securing the return of the Malian administration to many localities in the interior of the country that it has deserted.
They will also lose the right to strike and make demands.
In a press release issued on October 18, the Synergy of Malian National Police Unions said the bill was regrettable and its adoption “was not subject to prior consultation.
The unionists believe that if this change in the police status quo comes from the people; these same people will one day demand demilitarization because democracy does not rhyme with a militarized police force.
This position was dismissed by the chairman of the CNT’s territorial administration, worship and national reconciliation commission, Dr. Coulibaly Youssouf Z, who said that “the law on the militarization of the national police in Mali is a big step towards discipline and the end of union anarchy.”
ARD/te/fss/as/APA