VZCZCXRO0164
RR RUEHPA
DE RUEHBP #1336/01 3231542
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 191542Z NOV 07
FM AMEMBASSY BAMAKO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8411
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE

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