TRANSLATORS who work for German peacekeepers in Mali have told the BBC they fear for their lives as the UN mission winds up its mission in the West African country.
The 19 interpreters wrote to the German government on 7 August asking for protection as the jihadist groups that operate in northern Mali regard those who work with the UN as traitors.
“The terrorists have been openly saying that any person working for international forces is considered an enemy,” a translator for the UN’s German military contingent, whose name has been withheld for safety reasons, told the BBC.
A few weeks after the translators sent their letter, photos appeared online of their friend Hachimi Dicko being killed by gunmen from the Islamist State (IS) group.
The 32-year-old Malian had worked for a sub-contractor at Camp Castor, the base that is operated by German UN soldiers in Gao, northern Mali’s most populous city.
All the translators knew Mr Dicko well. He had been a laundry supervisor at the camp, working for Ecolog – although a source close to his family says when he was captured by IS gunmen in June his contract had come to an end.
He had started a job as a clothing courier and had been travelling on a lorry from Niamey, the capital of neighbouring Niger, to Gao when it was ambushed.
Those travelling with him say he was singled out by the gunmen because of the military-style boots he was wearing. They initially demanded a ransom. The lorry driver got in contact with the family at the militants’ request.
But as negotiations were happening by the side of the road, the IS gunmen started going through Mr Dicko’s phone and found photos of him standing next to German UN soldiers.
Those pictures sealed his fate. The jihadists said they were no longer interested in a ransom. They abducted him, calling him a spy and an enemy accomplice. It is not clear when he was killed, but the images of his brutal murder were circulated online two months later.
The BBC has asked Ecolog to confirm that Mr Dicko was an employee but has not received a response.
