AES: Chronicle of international cynicism, when terrorists and their allies seek justice in The Hague
It’s a world turned upside down when suspected criminals show up in The Hague pretending to be innocent victims, filing complaints against those striving to extinguish the very fire they themselves ignited. On June 15, 2025, several so-called Tuareg community associations—Imouhagh International, Kel Akal, the U.S. Diaspora, and another with the rather telling name “Solidarity with Azawad”—went to the office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to file a complaint against the Malian Armed Forces (FAMA), the Burkinabe forces, and the now infamous Africa Corps mercenaries, formerly known as Wagner.
The charge? Nothing less than accusations of crimes against humanity and war crimes. It would be laughable if it weren’t such a tasteless farce. The very same people who, not long ago, were spreading death in villages, planting mines under schools, and imposing terror across the Sahel, now present themselves as victims of abuse.
The irony is striking. National armies, engaged in an existential battle to reclaim territories seized by the Kalashnikovs of ideological bandits, are suddenly portrayed as the perpetrators, while the bomb-planters don the mask of virtue. Applause for the sleight of hand.
And what of these so-called “associations,” some based thousands of kilometers away from the actual conflict zones, claiming to know more from Washington or Brussels than the villagers who survived massacres perpetrated by armed groups affiliated with Al-Qaeda or the Islamic State?
This is no longer about defending human rights—it’s a crude attempt at narrative manipulation, orchestrated by the geopolitical sponsors of insecurity. As for the ICC, it would do well not to allow itself to be used as a stage for professional victimhood blackmail.
While some are busy drafting legal complaints in polished English, the Defense and Security Forces (FDS) and Volunteers for the Defense of the Homeland (VDP) are falling under enemy fire so their people can live again. Perhaps it’s time for the international community to finally tell the sound of gunfire apart from the echo of lies.
