Chad: Nour Ibedou, human rights defender, ready to join the national dialogue
General Mahamat Idriss Déby, president of the Transitional Military Council in Chad, during a visit to Khartoum, Sudan, August 29, 2021. (Photo illustration) AFP - -
Text by: RFI Follow
3 min
In Chad, after a decade of fighting against the former regime of Idriss Déby Itno, Mahamat Nour Ibedou, one of the leading human rights defenders and member of the Wakit Tama opposition coalition, says he is ready to join the national dialogue led by Idriss Déby's son, Mahamat Idriss Déby.
Success Masra, from the Transformers party, also a member of Wakit Tama, recalls that basically nothing has changed and that those who trust the authorities risk being deceived again.
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Mahamat Nour Ibedou, secretary general of the Chadian Convention for Human Rights (CTDDH), said on Saturday September 11 that he no longer wanted to suffer, but to be an actor in the management of the country. He has participated in recent weeks in demonstrations against the transition process at the call of the Wakit Tama coalition, which he says he does not want to leave, while specifying his decision to join the national dialogue.
“
We have struggled enough outside the system. And there, frankly, we risk being eternal protesters. We now refuse to submit and we have decided, this time, to fight from the inside, that is to say, to go to dialogue. We really have to participate in the bodies that must decide on the life of the country. This is an option that we have chosen and this option is now irreversible,
”he explained.
When asked whether this means that he has formally left Wakit Tama, the secretary general of the Chadian Convention for Human Rights specifies: “
We have not formally left Wakit Tama yet. There was a difference of opinion in relation to certain negotiations with the CNT
[National Transitional Council]
. The CNT had granted us places. Comrades found that was not enough. We have nevertheless said that it is reasonable and we leave. There are people who were in Wakit Tama and who went into dialogue. This did not lead to any problems, however. So I imagine that for us, too, it will be the same.
"
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: Wakit Tama coordination protests against the transition process
"Basically nothing has changed"
Mahamat Nour Ibedou is not leaving the coalition, but says he wants to be a “full
actor
”.
A decision respected by Succès Masra, of the Les Transformateurs party and also a member of Wakit Tama.
He nevertheless recalls that basically nothing has changed and that those who trust the authorities risk being deceived again.
"
Mahamat Nour, we must salute his commitment. He fought with the means he had, there is perhaps a little fatigue ... There is a desire above all, I think, to trust, blindly, for one last time, to a certain way. Because indeed, in his statement, he does not say that there are things that have changed and that led him to make this choice. What I'm saying is that we can't just trust blindly. We must judge by actions. Us, maybe we are a little more careful, more demanding. He chose to be more benevolent. But we need sentries of the nation who demand more precisely because we have been deceived several times and he knows it. It is an approach that he tries to carry out in good faith. I think he will learn the lessons by then.We have no doubt that very soon they will realize that it is a Mass already said in advance, in a certain way. This is the spirit in any case that guides us, while wishing them good luck in trying to influence also, in a certain way, from where they will be.
"Masra Succès told RFI.
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Chad
Mahamat Idriss Deby