Clashes in Chad: civil society and opposition parties call for a ceasefire
Chadian soldiers in armed vehicles during a ceremony in Ndjamena, in January 2021. AFP - RENAUD MASBEYE BOYBEYE
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3 min
The fighting raged on Saturday between the Chadian national forces and the rebels of the Front for Alternation and Concord in Chad (Fact).
In this context, several opposition parties and civil society organizations signed a call for a ceasefire this weekend.
They also ask Idriss Déby to open an inclusive national dialogue to ease tensions, leaving the Chadian president a week to make up his mind.
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The memory of the years of civil war still haunts the signatories of this declaration.
"
We have experience of war,"
recalls Mahamat Nour Ibedou, secretary general of the Chadian Commission on Human Rights
.
It's not a gala party as they say.
The lives of the people are at stake.
”
Despite their differences, civil society and some opposition political parties are therefore calling for a ceasefire.
According to Mahamat Ahmad Alhabo, secretary general of the Party for Freedoms and Development, this armed conflict will never allow the birth of "
a democratic Chad
".
“
Any seizure of power by arms automatically leads to its confiscation also by violence and force.
That is why we are saying that the belligerents must declare a ceasefire throughout the territory and sit down around a negotiating table.
"
The objective of the signatories is to stimulate an inclusive national dialogue.
A statement which is addressed mainly to President Idriss Déby Itno, to whom they leave a week to provide a response.
"
If until the 25th, he does not adhere to our proposal, we will organize citizen demonstrations to bring him to his
senses," said Mahamat Nour Ibedou.
All also call on Chad's partners to stop supporting one camp against another, in order to facilitate, they say, political dialogue.
Fear for the safety of opponents
The president of the Chadian Convention on Human Rights also fears that this security situation endangers certain opponents and members of civil society.
In 2008, during a rebel offensive on Ndjamena, soldiers of the Chadian presidential guard arrested several opponents, who had suffered ill-treatment in captivity.
Among them, Ibni Oumar Mahamat Saleh never reappeared.
Mahamat Nour Ibedou is afraid that “
the scenario will repeat itself
”.
"
We are told that the fighting would approach Njdamena and therefore we feared that the scenario which allowed the kidnapping and assassination of Mr. Ibni Oumar Mahamat Saleh would be repeated with the leaders of the opposition and of civil society, here in Ndjamena.
The government has already acted in this direction, so it forces us to take certain precautions with regard to our security.
"
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