ICC Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said in July that her office was opening a preliminary examination [JURIST report] of the recent violence in Mali, after the ICC received a letter from Malian government officials requesting an ICC investigation. Malian Justice Minister Malick Coulibaly said earlier that month that he would ask the ICC to open an investigation [JURIST report]. In May Amnesty International reported that Mali was facing its worst human rights crisis [JURIST report] since it gained independence in 1960. Human Rights Watch released a similar report in April claiming that all sides to the conflict are committing war crimes [JURIST report]. All of this has come after Malian soldiers took control of the government [JURIST report] and suspended the constitution in March. Many in the international community have expressed concern over the situation, including the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, Navi Pillay and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees [JURIST reports]. The turmoil began when Tuareg rebels attacked Malian soldiers [Al Jazeera report].