NGOs Urge Xi Jinping to End Repression, Mali Sentences Critics, and more.

HRF calls on the Lesotho Mounted Police Service to carry out a thorough and credible investigation into the alarming abduction and torture of prominent journalist and human rights activist Kananelo Boloetse. Authorities must guarantee his safety and bring the perpetrators to justice to ensure the attack does not cast a chill on freedom of expression in the country.

On Sept. 5, three unknown assaillants broke into the home of Boloetse, editor of the independent Newsday Media, in the capital Maseru and took him to an unknown destination. Boloetse—who is also the co-founder of civic movement—said the men interrogated him about his work in journalism and human rights advocacy and brutally assaulted him before dumping him on the outskirts of Maseru. He claimed that his attackers threatened to return and kill him if he reported the attack.

Boloetse filed a complaint with the police and publicly spoke about the attack before subsequently going into hiding for his own safety. However, in a press conference on Sept. 13, Police Commissioner Borotho Matsoso declared that investigations were stalled due to Boloetse’s unavailability. Police have ignored eyewitness testimonies casting suspicion on state security services.

HRF condemns prison sentences imposed last month by Malian courts on four prominent public opinion leaders for public criticisms of the military regime of Gen. Assimi Goïta. HRF calls for their convictions to be overturned and for their immediate release.

On Aug. 17, the criminal chamber of the Bamako Court of Appeal sentenced radio broadcaster Mohamed Youssouf Bathily, known as Ras Bath, and social media influencer Rokia Doumbia, known as Rose Vie Chère, to 10 years each in prison — with three years suspended — and a fine of 240,000 CFA. Their lawyers are appealing to the Supreme Court. Both were convicted of criminal conspiracy for appearing together in a 2023 program, hosted by the journalist, on economic hardships facing ordinary Malians.

On Aug. 3, the same court sentenced political activist Adama Diarra, known as Ben le Cerveau, to five years over an audio recording linked to preparations for a protest planned in January 2023. Diarra was once among one of the most prominent supporters of Mali’s junta and sat on its transitional council before falling out with the authorities over the return to constitutional rule. He has been detained since September 2023.

The same day, Chahana Takiou, editor of the private newspaper Le 22 Septembre, was sentenced to 12 months on charges of “discrediting the state through the judicial institution.” The sentence was based on public remarks criticizing the judiciary’s abuse of cybercrime laws to jail journalists during a regional media forum in Bamako in June.