African Union suspends Mali over last week's coup

The African Union (AU) on Wednesday suspended Mali as a member of the pan-African organisation and warned the country of possible sanctions, in response to the coup d'état perpetrated by the Malian military last week.

In a statement, the AU announced its decision to "immediately suspend the Republic of Mali from participation in all activities of the African Union, its organs and institutions, until constitutional order is restored in the country".

The Addis Ababa-based organisation "strongly urged" the Malian armed forces to "urgently and unconditionally return to barracks, and to refrain from further interference in the political processes" of the state.

The AU also demanded "the creation of conditions conducive to an unimpeded, transparent and rapid return to civilian-led transition, on the basis of the agreed transition roadmap".

Otherwise, it warned, the AU Peace and Security Council "will not hesitate to impose targeted sanctions and other punitive measures against any spoilers of the ongoing transition".

The AU thus followed in the footsteps of the Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which last Sunday, at the end of an extraordinary session devoted to the crisis in Mali, suspended Mali from all its institutions as a result of the double coup d'état perpetrated by the military in August 2020 and last week.

The coup leaders deposed President Bah Ndaw and his prime minister Moctar Ouané last week, and the vice president, Assimi Goita, assumed supreme command, later endorsed by the Constitutional Court.

Although the reasons for the coup have not been disclosed, it appears that Goita, who also led the August coup, was opposed to leaving out of the transitional government military officers who played a leading role in the 2020 coup.

ECOWAS has piloted the transition process from outside Mali in the past months, in concert with the coup leaders, but with the new military uprising it has been completely disempowered.