Demonstrations in Chad: civil society denounces "arbitrary arrests"

Ndjamena central prison in Chad.

(illustration) Getty

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2 mins

In Chad, the repercussions of the October 20 violence continue to be felt across the country.

While the government still counts 50 dead and around 300 injured, the associations are talking about much more.

Human rights defenders also point to hundreds of arrests, which they consider arbitrary, with people " 

 " to prisons outside the capital.

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For the past week, activists have been contacted by

claiming that a loved one has been arrested by the security forces.

According to FIDH, these are mostly young

or the Wakit Tama organization.

The NGO says they would be sent to high security prisons, including Koro Toro, in the north.

Dobian Assingar,

, asks President Mahamat Idriss Déby to release them:

It's not less than 1,500, in any case.

[The police go] door to door, they jump the walls, we go into houses at night, to kidnap people, and they disappear without a warrant.

You see it's completely arbitrary, it's quite serious.

As head of the family, let him free the prisoners to ease the situation!

It is from the results of the investigations that we will know who did what.

Dobian Assingar, FIDH representative, asks President Mahamat Idriss Déby to release the prisoners

Sebastien Nemeth

“

These people should go before a judge before being deported

”

The National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) has also received

by the security forces in recent days:

“ 

,” indignant Mahamat Nour Ibédou, president of the CNDH

 »

The president of the CNDH is also planning the creation of a commission of inquiry to find out who were the people dressed in civilian clothes, circulating in vehicles without registration, and who fired on the crowd, causing numerous victims on October 20.

The government explains the sending of those arrested outside the capital for "

questions of logistics

"

His spokesman Aziz Mahamat Saleh, however, acknowledges the arrests and the sending of prisoners out of Ndjamena, promising that those responsible, whether among the civilians or the security forces, will be prosecuted.

Dozens of deaths cannot be left unpunished.

Those arrested are placed at the disposal of justice, and it is too strong to use terms like "deportations".

It is true that some prisons in Ndjamena are completely overwhelmed because there is a strike by magistrates which has been going on for two months.

So it's logistical issues.

Chadian government spokesman Aziz Mahamat Saleh justifies sending arrestees outside Ndjamena

Sebastien Nemeth

As for releasing prisoners to ease tensions, the minister replies that everything is in the hands of justice now.

According to the FIDH, the repression would have finally made a hundred dead, 200 according to the Transformers.

But the government maintains the figure of 50 dead.

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• Chad

• Mahamat Idriss Deby