Ousmane Aly Diallo is Senior Researcher for the Sahel at Amnesty International's Regional Office for West and Central Africa in Dakar.  Ousmane's research interests cover human rights issues in Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, and Senegal, with a particular focus on violations of civil and political liberties, the impact of the armed insurgency in the Sahel on human rights, especially on civilian populations living in conflict zones, and the judicial response to all these violations of human rights and international humanitarian law. Ousmane holds a PhD in Global Governance from the Balsillie School of International Affairs, Wilfrid Laurier University and his thesis focused on the impact of the conflict in Mali on the regional security governance of the Sahel