MUSLIM LEADERS CHALLENGE ATT OVER DEATH PENALTY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BAMAKO 001336

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/19/2017
TAGS: KISL SOCI PHUM KWMN PINR ML
SUBJECT: MUSLIM LEADERS CHALLENGE ATT OVER DEATH PENALTY
AND FAMILY LAW

Classified By: Political Officer Aaron Sampson, Embassy Bamako, for
reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)

1.(C) Summary: An estimated 3000 members of Mali's Muslim
community held a peaceful demonstration at Bamako's Grand
Mosque on November 4 to protest President Amadou Toumani
Toure's decision to support abolition of the death penalty
and provide improved rights for women and children.
President Toure incurred the anger and surprise of Mali's
Muslim leaders during his September 22 Independence Day
address when he asked the National Assembly to abolish the
death penalty and amend Mali's Family Code - issues that
floundered in 2001 and 2004 respectively due to Muslim
leaders' opposition. The sensitive nature of the two issues,
combined with the President's apparent failure to consult
with the Muslim community in advance, has sparked a religious
backlash that has unified Mali's Muslim leaders. Anger
within the Muslim community may also weaken the authority of
the government sponsored High Council of Islam and increase
the visibility of fringe Islamists. On the positive side,
the continued controversy has highlighted the emerging
importance of Mali's National Assembly as a deliberative body
rather than a rubber stamp for measures introduced by the
President. End Summary.

-------------- --
Surprise: ATT Revives Controversial Legislation
-------------- --

2.(U) During his September 22 Independence Day address
President Amadou Toumani Toure (ATT) angered Mali's Muslim
leadership by asking the National Assembly to ratify
amendments to Mali's Family Code law and abolish the death
penalty. The amendment to abolish the death penalty was
first introduced in 2004 but failed to even reach the
National Assembly floor for debate. Although Mali has not
implemented the death penalty since the 1980s, Muslim leaders
strongly oppose its abolition. The controversial Family Code
amendments were first drafted in the late 1990s under former
President Alpha Oumar Konare and would equalize inheritance
rights for women, enable women to officially acquire Head of
Household status and allow illegitimate children to adopt the
family names of their mothers. The text was withdrawn from
consideration in 2002 after running into steep opposition
from Muslim leaders. ATT did not attempt to revive the code
during his first five years in office.


3. (C) ATT is often criticized for being indecisive by
opponents and allies alike. Examples include the
long-delayed formation of his new government, the nearly
three months of official silence in response to the capture
of several dozen Malian soldiers by Tuareg bandits, and the
failure to name a new Secretary General of the Presidency to
replace Modibo Sidibe who is now Prime Minister. While a
variety of political considerations as well as the
President's personality traits might as easily explain these
behaviors, the perception of this tendency toward the
non-decision made ATT's apparently impromptu request for the
National Assembly to ratify two highly controversial pieces
of legislation that much more striking.

4.(U) At the start of his presidential re-election campaign
in March 2007, ATT celebrated International Women's Day by
promising to revisit the Family Code proposals. His March 8
remarks, however, passed largely unnoticed and many women's
leaders believed ATT was likely pandering for votes. His
September 22 declaration in support of the Family Code caught
everyone, ranging from women's and human rights groups
lobbying in favor of the amendments, to Muslim leaders who
view the proposed changes as un-Islamic, completely by
surprise.

--------------
Muslim Leaders Uninformed and Unhappy
--------------

5.(U) ATT's September 22 speech sparked a religious backlash
that shows no signs of abating. Muslim leaders, whether Sufi
or Sunna/Wahhabi, appear united in their opposition to
reforms they regard as un-Islamic. Additionally, many Muslim
leaders believe ATT violated Mali's time-honored tradition of
consensus by failing to consult with key interest groups and
power-brokers before asking the National Assembly to change
the laws.

6.(U) Many Muslim leaders are also asking themselves why ATT
decided to advocate abolition of the death penalty and the
Family Code amendments now. Some believe pressure from
women's groups and First Lady Toure Lobbo Traore may have
forced ATT to act. Others suspect ATT's announcement was
timed to coincide with a recent trip to France to cement
European Union development assistance.

BAMAKO 00001336 002 OF 003



7.(C) Several Muslim groups led by Mohamed Kimbiri are
actively pressuring National Assembly Deputies to oppose both
bills. The Embassy visited Kimbiri in his office one morning
as he was busily working the telephones, trying to gauge
opposition within the Assembly while at the same time
arranging protest marches. At one point Kimbiri placed a
hand over his cell phone, announced that he had 11 Assembly
Deputies ready to oppose the bills, and said "We are lobbying
the National Assembly. It's the American way."

8.(C) Mainstream Muslim leaders have lead several protest
meetings, including a very large meeting of perhaps as many
as 3000 people on November 4 at the Grand Mosque in downtown
Bamako. The meeting was peaceful, although tensions rose at
the outset when protesters discovered that police had barred
entry to the Grand Mosque, perhaps in an attempt to block the
participation of a handful of fringe Islamists. Bamako's
Governor quickly intervened, ordering police to allow the
meeting to proceed. In addition to Kimbiri and other
Sunna/Wahhabi leaders, the demonstration featured the
well-known Sufi preacher and Imam Cherif Ousmane Madani
Haidara, a member of Mali's High Council of Islam. Imam
Haidara is famous for his media savvy, his belief that
Malians not fluent in Arabic may pray in local languages, and
for his role as one of the first religious leaders to openly
criticize the reign of former dictator Moussa Traore.
Demonstration participants unfurled banners reading "Down
with the Decisions of the Government that are Against the
Muslim Religion."

--------------
Unintended Outcomes Worrisome
--------------

9.(C) The mobilization of the Muslim community against the
Family Code and abolition of the death penalty has opened the
way for several presumably unintended and, in some cases,
worrisome outcomes. Muslim anger has likely endangered the
viability of the legislation. Supporters of the legislation
are quick to note that neighboring Senegal, which is very
similar to Mali in terms of religious composition, has
managed to pass similar laws. However, these arguments
appear to have been overwhelmed, at least for the time being,
by the indignation of local Muslim leaders. An extremely
un-scientific poll run by one of Mali's main opposition
newspapers, Info-Matin, found that more than 70 percent of
Malian Muslims oppose abolition of the death penalty.
Although the Family Code was not part of the newspaper's
survey, opposition levels among Muslims are likely similar.
In a country that is over 90 percent Muslim, many National
Assembly Deputies will likely think twice before casting
votes that could be portrayed by incensed religious leaders
as "un-Islamic."

10.(C) An additional outcome is the potential weakening of
the High Council of Islam. The High Council was created by
the Malian government in 2002 to standardize the quality of
preaching in Malian mosques, serve as the Muslim community's
primary interface with the government, and moderate relations
between Malian Sufis and Sunna/Wahhabis. Following ATT's
September 22 speech, High Council leaders agreed to demarche
ATT directly on their opposition to the Family Code and
abolition of the death penalty. The High Council's selected
representatives, however, proved unable to meet with ATT.
Several Muslim leaders have told the Embassy that they
believe the leaders of the High Council are too close to the
government and may no longer represent the interests of the
greater Malian Muslim community. Perhaps aware of this
sentiment, Prime Minister Modibo Sidibe visited on November 2
with the heads of Bamako's three founding families to discuss
the Family Code and death penalty measures. These families
hold a ceremonial leadership role for having been the first
to settle what is now present day Bamako and frequently
assume conflict-resolution duties.

11.(C) More worrisome is the potential strengthening of a
minority of fringe Islamists. Opposition leader and former
National Assembly President Ibrahim Boubcar Keita recently
told the Embassy that he feared ATT's failure to consult with
Muslim leaders prior to re-introducing the Family Code and
death penalty bills had opened the window for Islamists who
support the implementation of Sharia law, advocate the strict
interpretation of the Koran, but have no traction with the
Malian public. Modibo Sangare, who leads the most vocal
Islamist group, has charged that abolishing the death penalty
and amending the Family Code constitutes the imposition of
"western" values on Malian society and is the first step
toward the legalization of gay marriage, among other things.
On November 13 security forces used tear gas and batons to
disrupt a meeting led by Sangare in Bamako. Perhaps as many
as 40 people were injured (septel).

BAMAKO 00001336 003 OF 003



-------------- ---
Comment: Legislative Branch Relevant After All?
-------------- ---

12.(C) The controversy is an interesting step in Mali's
emerging democracy. The furor indicates that the newly
elected National Assembly is not a rubber stamp for President
Toure, despite recent elections that gave a clear majority of
Assembly seats to allies of the President. While some Muslim
leaders have accused ATT of trying to impose "western" values
on Malian culture, there appears to be little hostility
toward the "west." In fact, many Muslim leaders, including
Islamists like Modibo Sangare, have cited the U.S. position
on the death penalty while arguing against abolition in Mali.


13.(C) Leaders of women's groups lobbying for the Family
Code changes remain optimistic about the bill's chances. One
women's leader said that new National Assembly President
Diouncounda Traore was more likely to support the Family Code
amendments than his predecessor, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, who
maintained close ties to Muslim leaders. ATT's failure to
consult with key Muslim leaders in advance may have doomed
the very legislation he asked the National Assembly to pass.

14.(C) ATT's decision to re-introduce the death penalty
abolition and the family code in the same speech linked two
issues that were previously related only by the Muslim
community's opposition to them. Muslim leaders in contact
with the Embassy report that the government has not even
shared the revised text of the Family Law with Mali's Muslim
community. While providing Muslim leaders with the actual
document under review will likely not alter their opinion of
the matter, it would help to at least reduce some of current
tensions. Whatever the results, the importance placed by all
players (including ATT) on the National Assembly is a good
indicator that Mali's legislative branch is becoming the
institutional pillar it needs to be to support Mali's nascent
democracy.
McCulley