Arusha — The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Fatou Bensouda, says Malian forces may have committed abuses in recent days, in central Mali.

In a statement received by Hirondelle today, she urged the Malian authorities to "put an immediate stop to the alleged abuses and on the basis of the principle of complementarity, to investigate and prosecute those responsible for the alleged crimes".

"I remind all parties to the on-going conflict in Mali that my Office has jurisdiction over all serious crimes committed within the territory of Mali, from January 2012 onwards," she warned. "All those alleged to be responsible for serious crimes in Mali must be held accountable".

Bensouda announced two weeks ago that her office was officially opening an investigation into crimes committed in Mali. This followed a preliminary investigation launched in July 2012, which concluded that there was reasonable basis to believe numerous serious crimes had been committed, including murder, cruel treatment and torture, directing attacks against protected objects, summary executions and rape.