Chad has taken another step towards reconciliation.

A general amnesty for rebels and opponents condemned in particular for "attacking the integrity of the State" was decreed on Monday, November 29.

This measure concerns 296 people convicted - whether they are detained or not - and meets one of the demands of the main rebel groups to come to the negotiating table at the invitation of President Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno.

"Make a clean sweep of the vestiges inherited from the dark periods of our country"

The young general took the head of the Military Council of Transition (CMT) the day after the death of his father, Idriss Déby Itno, the head of state killed in April 2021 in fighting against rebels.

"It appeared essential to wipe out the vestiges inherited from the dark periods of our country by granting a general amnesty to those who, for one reason or another, had chosen the path of exile and / or violence to express their political differences, "proclaims the bill adopted at an extraordinary Council of Ministers, a report of which was sent to AFP.

This text will then be submitted to Parliament, whose members have been appointed by the president of the CMT.

Are concerned "39 people convicted of acts of attacking the integrity of the State and crimes of opinion" and "257 members" of the armed groups, detained and judged in particular for "terrorism" after an offensive of the Union of Resistance Forces (UFR) in 2019, which aimed to overthrow President Déby.

Participate in the national dialogue

Chad, ruled with an iron fist for more than 30 years by Idriss Déby after a coup, is frequently rocked by rebel offensives from neighboring Libya and Sudan, some of which led them to the gates of the capital N'Djamena.

The main Chadian rebel groups said in early November "willing" to participate in the national dialogue "under certain conditions", including a general amnesty.

Mahamat Idriss Déby had multiplied the signs of openness to armed groups to make them participate in a national dialogue supposed to reconcile the Chadians before "free and transparent" elections promised within a period of 18 months renewable once, when he took power .

Amnestied people "are named by name and rebel leaders are not present because they have already been granted amnesties in 2018. This measure concerns prisoners and other rebel organizations who were arrested and then sentenced after May 31, 2018", said Abderaman Koulamallah, Minister of Communication and spokesperson for the Chadian government.

"If it is confirmed and materializes in practice, this amnesty would be a major step forward, among other things, towards dialogue, reconciliation and peace as desired by all Chadians," said Kingabé Ogouzeimi of Tapol, spokesperson for the Front pour l'alternance et la concorde au Tchad (FACT).

Marshal Idriss Déby was killed in April in action in the face of advancing FACT rebel columns.

"This is one of our prerequisites. It is a first step," said Timan Erdimi, the head of the UFR in exile in Qatar.

"There remains the release of Tom Erdimi", his brother detained in Egypt according to his family, "and prisoners of war, as well as the restitution of looted property," he added.

"It is an important step towards reconciliation, and a political act to give legitimacy to the president of the CMT who had been contested because of the dynastic succession of power. He recovers a capital of sympathy, both inside and out. internationally, including for a possible candidacy for the presidential election ", analyzes Kelma Manatouma, Chadian researcher in political science at the University of Paris-Nanterre.

No country has so far denounced the seizure of power by the junta and, immediately after his proclamation as president of the transition, Mahamat Déby had received the support of France, the former colonial power, of the European Union. , then the African Union.

The Chadian army is considered to be the pillar, alongside the French soldiers of Operation Barkhane, of a coalition fighting the jihadists in the Sahel strip. 

With AFP

The summary of the week

France 24 invites you to come back to the news that marked the week

I subscribe

Take international news everywhere with you!

Download the France 24 application

google-play-badge_FR