Malian authorities must urgently disclose the fate and whereabouts of lawyer and pro-democracy politician Mountaga Tall and his son Cheick Mamadou Tall, Amnesty International said six months after their abductions.
On the night of 3 May 2026, just days after a series of attacks by armed groups across Mali, Mountaga Tall, leader of the National Congress for the Democratic Initiative (Congrès national pour l’initiative démocratique), was abducted from his home in the capital, Bamako, by armed and hooded men driving vehicles without registration plates.
Cheick Mamadou Tall, his eldest son, went missing on 16 May after allegedly receiving a telephone call from his father asking him to bring personal effects. He left his home to deliver the effects and never returned. His fate has remained unknown since then.
“The Malian authorities cannot continue to evade their responsibility to independently, impartially and transparently investigate the disappearances of Mountaga and Cheick Mamadou Tall. Six months of uncertainty and anguish for their family must end. The authorities must urgently disclose what happened to them and ensure that those suspected to be responsible are held accountable,” said Marceau Sivieude, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for West and Central Africa.
“If Mountaga Tall and his son are detained by the authorities, their whereabouts and proof that they are alive must be disclosed immediately. They must be granted prompt access to their families, their lawyers, doctors, and to any medication they may require.”
“If they are suspected of having committed an offence, they must be promptly brought before a judge, informed of the specific charges against them and afforded all fair trial guarantees. Otherwise, they must be immediately released.”
Multiple calls for urgent clarification remain unanswered
In a statement released on 3 May, Mountaga Tall’s family denounced his abduction, and the lack of information about his fate and which the
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