Chad: two years later, grey areas persist over the death of President Idriss Déby

Soldiers march during the state funeral of Chadian President Idriss Déby Itno in N'Djamena, April 23, 2021. AFP - ISSOUF SANOGO

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2 min

Two years ago, Chadian President Idriss Déby was killed during fighting with Fact rebels in the Kanem region, 300km northwest of N'Djamena. Several grey areas remain on the exact circumstances of his death and the investigation that followed.

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The investigation promised at the time into the death of Idriss Déby never gave rise to official and public conclusions, although 455 FACT fighters were sentenced to life imprisonment on March 21 for "terrorism" and "endangering the life of the head of state". Of these, 380 were pardoned by the transitional president and released on 5 April. Another 55 convicted in absentia, including the group's leader, Mahamat Mahdi Ali, did not benefit.

What exactly was said during the trial of the Fact prisoners, which took place in the middle of the desert in what Chadians call the Koro Toro prison? Did the magistrates discuss the circumstances in which Idriss Déby died during the rebel group's offensive? It is difficult to know: defence lawyers and independent media were unable to follow the hearings.

Investigative elements kept secret

According to our information, the judges were in possession of the conclusions of the investigation, but they "did not want to put these elements in the public square during the trial, to preserve the dignity of the deceased president," defends a well-informed government source.

Because the investigation has "well taken place" assures our interlocutor. "All the people who were around the marshal when he died, his collaborators, his doctor, the family, the soldiers, etc ... were heard by the judges and their testimony was recorded in minutes, he said. The doctor also made a report of the cause of his death, which notes the injuries he sustained. ».

Elements kept secret, therefore, which feeds the questions of a part of the population, political actors and civil society, who continue to demand "an independent investigation", and to feed alternative theories that circulate, but have never been attested.

Two years later, where does the Fact stand?

The president of Fact, Mahamat Mahdi Ali, is categorical, "it has been more than a year since our strike force was completely reconstituted!" and "if war is imposed on us," he says, "we are ready to face it."

But for independent researcher Alexander Bish, we are not there yet. "Fact now has some 900 armed fighters." It can also count on hundreds of intermittent fighters, engaged in gold panning or other trafficking, and who can be mobilized at any time, he explains.

A new collaboration with the forces of Libyan General Khalifa Haftar allowed them to re-equip themselves with 4x4 vehicles equipped with heavy machine guns and other Kornet anti-tank missiles. But "the Fact has not yet regained all its nuisance capacity before the offensive of April 2021," says this specialist of southern Libya.

In the meantime, the main Chadian politico-military group has engaged like all others in the Doha negotiations, which led in August 2022 to a peace agreement between the transitional government and some of these rebel movements, without the main ones, including the Fact.

Just over a month ago, Fact and 17 other groups reached out to the transitional government through the Catholic community of San't Egidio. The government said it was ready to make peace, but "if the junta opposite refuses to subscribe to it, we will not stay forever," warned the leader of the Fact.

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Read on on the same topics:

• Chad
• Idriss Déby Itno