Takeaways from AP report on Wagner allegedly committing war crimes by promoting atrocities

DAKAR, Senegal — Editor's Note: This story contains graphic images and descriptions of atrocities.

The International Criminal Court has been asked to review a confidential legal brief arguing that the Russia-linked Wagner Group has committed war crimes by spreading images of apparent atrocities in West Africa on social media, including ones alluding to cannibalism. The brief was seen exclusively by The Associated Press.

Violence in the Sahel, an arid belt of land south of the Sahara Desert, has reached record levels as military governments battle extremist groups linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group. Last year, it became the deadliest place on earth for extremism, with half of the world's nearly 8,000 victims killed across the territory, according to yearly data compiled by the Institute for Economics and Peace.

While the United States and other Western powers withdraw from the region, Russia has taken advantage, expanding military cooperation with several African nations via Wagner, the private security company closely linked to Russia's intelligence and military.

Observers say the new approach has led to the kind of atrocities and dehumanization not seen in the region for decades. Social media offers a window into the alleged horrors that often occur in remote areas with little or no oversight from governments or outside observers.

Experts say the images, while difficult to verify, could serve as evidence of war crimes. The confidential brief to the ICC goes further, arguing that the act of circulating the images on social media could constitute a war crime, too. It is the first such argument made to the international court.

Here are some takeaways from AP's report on the issue.

Videos that humiliate and dehumanize

The brief, along with AP reporting, shows that a network of social media channels, likely administered by current or former Wagner members, has reposted content that the channels say is from Wagner fighters. They promote videos and photos appearing to show abuses by armed, uniformed men, often accompanied by mocking or dehumanizing language.

In the videos, men in military uniform are shown butchering corpses of what appear to be civilians with machetes, hacking out organs and posing with severed limbs. One fighter says he is about to eat someone's liver. Another says he is trying to remove their heart.

While administrators of the channels are anonymous, open source analysts believe they are current or former Wagner fighters based on the content as well as graphics used, including in some cases Wagner's logo.

AP analysis of the videos confirms the body parts shown are genuine, as well as the military uniforms.

The videos and photos, in a mix of French and local languages, aim to humiliate and threaten those considered the enemies of Wagner and its local military allies, along with civilian populations whose youth face pressure to join extremist groups. But experts say it often has the opposite effect, prompting reprisal attacks and recruitment into the ranks of jihadis.

The governments of Mali and Burkina Faso earlier condemned the graphic videos and said they would look into them, but it is not clear whether anyone in them has been identified.

Russia's presence continues

The U.S. State Department has described Wagner, a network of mercenaries and businesses, as ''a transnational criminal organization.'' Wagner did not respond to AP questions about the videos.

Since Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin was killed in a plane crash in 2023, Moscow has been developing a new organization, the Africa Corps, as a rival force under direct command of Russian authorities.

Earlier this month, Wagner announced its withdrawal from Mali, declaring ''mission accomplished'' in a Telegram post. In a separate Telegram post, Africa Corps said it is staying.

In Mali, about 2,000 Russian mercenaries are fighting alongside the country's armed forces, according to U.S. officials. It is unclear how many have been with Wagner or are with the Africa Corps.

Outrages on personal dignity

Under the Rome Statute that created the ICC, the violation of personal dignity, mainly through humiliating and degrading treatment, constitutes a war crime. Legal experts from UC Berkeley, who submitted the brief to the ICC last year, argue that such treatment could include Wagner's alleged weaponization of social media.

The brief was submitted to the ICC before the U.S. sanctioned the court earlier this year. It asks the ICC to investigate individuals with Wagner and the governments of Mali and Russia for alleged abuses in northern and central Mali between December 2021 and July 2024, including extrajudicial killings, torture, mutilation and cannibalism.

It also asks the court to investigate crimes ''committed through the internet, which are inextricably linked to the physical crimes and add a new dimension of harm to an extended group of victims.''

The ICC told the AP it could not comment on the brief but said it was aware of ''various reports of alleged massive human rights violations in other parts of Mali,'' adding that it ''follows closely the situation.''

Its Office of the Prosecutor said investigations have focused on alleged war crimes committed since January 2012, when insurgents seized communities in Mali's northern regions of Gao, Kidal and Timbuktu.

Lack of accountability

Human Rights Watch has documented atrocities committed in Mali by Wagner and other armed groups. It says accountability for alleged abuses has been minimal, with the military government reluctant to investigate its armed forces and Russian mercenaries.

It has become difficult to obtain detailed information on alleged abuses because of the Malian government's ''relentless assault against the political opposition, civil society groups, the media and peaceful dissent,'' said Ilaria Allegrozzi, the group's Sahel researcher. That has worsened after a U.N. peacekeeping mission withdrew from Mali in December 2023 at the government's request.

That void, she said, ''has eased the way for further atrocities.''