Operation “Tandroka”: Amnesty International blames military forces

In spite of the explanations and reports provided by the military forces regarding their military intervention in the south of Madagascar, as part of the fight against zebu thieves and smugglers who have increasingly spread terrors in that particular region for some time now, observers, both national and international, continue to react toward the recent military operation known as “Tandroka”.

For instance, on November 20, in an official statement, Amnesty International qualifies the operation as a massive massacre of innocent people. Precisely, the statement said “Malagasy military forces must be controlled because they blindly commit violence toward innocent civilians.”  One of the military officers leading the operation “Tandroka”, Lieutenant-Colonel Lylison de René, immediately responded by denying Amnesty International’s allegation concerning the case. Furthermore, he criticized the organization for basing its allegation from reporting documents only. Instead, he invited Amnesty International to conduct its own in-the-field investigation in order to assess the actual situation in the south.