McGovern Tells Secretary Rubio: Prioritize Human Rights in Engagement with Central Sahel

WASHINGTON-Today, Representative James P. McGovern (D-MA), Ranking Member of the House Rules Committee and Co-Chair of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, wrote to Secretary of State Marco Rubio urging him to center human rights and civilian protection in all United States engagement in the Central Sahel, a region in West Africa that encompasses Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger.

Citing expert testimony delivered at a May 14 hearing of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, the letter raises alarms about the "precarity and violence of life in the region, which boasts the world's fastest growing theaters for armed Islamists allied to Al Qaeda and the Islamic State." It notes that "security forces in the Central Sahel have adopted an aggressive counterterrorism approach and themselves been implicated in widespread violations of international humanitarian law."

"Human rights violations and war crimes by government forces and their allies are significant drivers of recruitment into armed groups," McGovern wrote. "For this reason, meaningful improvement in the regional security situation cannot be achieved unless human rights and civilian protection are treated as the non-negotiable foundation of engagement with Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger."

The letter calls on Secretary Rubio to:

• Ensure that any provision of foreign assistance occurs in strict compliance with human rights conditions in U.S. law;

• Designate human rights violators for targeted sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Act;

• Provide public explanation of the lifting of sanctions on individuals who could be implicated in serious human rights abuses, such as the February 2026 delisting of three Malian officials linked to Russia's abusive Wagner Group;

• Consistent with the Elie Wiesel Act, assess the risk of future atrocities in the Central Sahel and report to Congress on regional atrocity prevention;

• Demand the immediate release of arbitrarily detained political figures, journalists, and civil society;

• Support inclusive, local peace processes; and

• Increase humanitarian and development aid for essential local services to minimize the grievances that extremist groups exploit.

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