The fight against impunity is not just one option among others: it is the prerequisite for any lasting peace
The Central Sahel has become one of the regions in the world where violence is becoming commonplace most rapidly, progressively embedding itself in people’s minds as an ordinary mode of interaction between the various components of the social body. To structural violence, historically linked to socio-economic tensions, there is now added violence of another order, even more insidious: that resulting from the state’s withdrawal from its fundamental regulatory functions, which guarantee the stability and peace of mind of the populations.
A missing state facing an arming society Failing credible alternative solutions to contain the expansion of non-state armed groups and banditry—which thrive in the disorder of increasingly failing political governance—entire communities and territories are sinking into a logic of self-defense that the authorities struggle to supervise, let alone stem. According to many astute observers, this dynamic constitutes one of the most immediate threats to the stability and institutional future of the Sahelian space.
The loss of control of the situation by public authorities is manifested by initiatives that are often hazardous, likely to aggravate tensions rather than resolve them. The creation of militias with vague mandates and insufficient oversight fuels a feeling of fragmentation and community withdrawal that runs counter to national unity, which is nevertheless more necessary than ever for these states to justify their viability in the eyes of their populations and the international community.
Alarming signals of the state’s unraveling Examples of this drift are now too numerous and too serious to be ignored. In Niger, high-ranking figures have publicly called on populations to take justice into their own hands—an undeniably alarming signal of the unraveling of state authority and the loss of bearings by those supposed to embody its values. In Mali, notorious criminals belonging to an army proclaimed as republican have been decorated and celebrated for massacring citizens on ethnic grounds—an official consecration of impunity that represents a profound break with the elementary principles of the rule of law. These facts are not isolated accidents. They reveal a systemic logic in which impunity is no longer merely tolerated; it is institutionalized.
The urgency of individual accountability It has become imperative that the perpetrators of acts of barbarism—whether targeting individuals or entire communities—be clearly identified, individually implicated, and brought before competent national or international jurisdictions capable of trying them. Only under this condition can the red lines be reaffirmed that no governance should cross in the treatment of the populations it is responsible for protecting.
The perpetrators of crimes and the instigators of speeches calling for hatred and violence must measure the concrete personal risks they are taking. Exemplary, swift, and visible sanctions constitute the only language capable of restoring meaning to the state and its institutions. Without this, the spiral of vengeance and counter-violence will remain endless.
This issue is also crucial for the credibility of the international community: its commitment to peace rings hollow as long as it continues to turn a blind eye to proven atrocities in the Sahel. The demand for stability can only be legitimately justified if it is accompanied by a real guarantee of respect for the rights of individuals and communities, ensured by the same mechanisms it claims to promote elsewhere in the world.
Refounding living together beyond legacies To successfully achieve its profound recomposition, the Central Sahel will have to break free from the blockages inherited from colonization and its aftermath, which continue to structure relations of domination, mistrust, and frustration between communities and between them and their states. This is not about denying history, but about no longer letting it dictate the future.
Imagining new conditions for living together, rebuilding inclusive social pacts, and restoring trust between rulers and the ruled: these are the foundational challenges that the Central Sahel must tackle, with or without the support of an international community that must itself clarify its commitments and assume its responsibilities.
Abdoulahi ATTAYOUB
Consultant, May 22, 2026
Lyon (France)
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