The following information is based mainly on the Amnesty International Report 2022/23 and other reports issued by the International Secretariat of Amnesty International. It presents Amnesty International’s concerns and calls for action.
OVERVIEW
In 2022, the Chadian authorities continued to use excessive force to disperse peaceful protesters and violated the right to freedom of assembly. Government critics continued to be arbitrarily detained. Dozens of people were killed in attacks by armed groups or in inter-communal violence. The Observatory for the Promotion of Gender Equality and Equity was created amid continued violations of the rights of women and girls. More than 2 million people faced food insecurity. In 2022, the Chadian authorities continued to use excessive force to disperse peaceful protesters and violated the right to freedom of assembly. Government critics continued to be arbitrarily detained. Dozens of people were killed in attacks by armed groups or in inter-communal violence. The Observatory for the Promotion of Gender Equality and Equity was created amid continued violations of the rights of women and girls. More than 2 million people faced food insecurity.
BACKGROUND
After the death of former President Idriss Deby Itno in April 2021, a Transitional Military Council (Conseil militaire de transition or CMT) was established, led by his son, General Mahamat Idriss Déby, and an 18-month transitional period was announced in order to organize new elections. In March 2022, a pre-dialogue was held in Doha between the government of Chad and several armed groups with the aim of ensuring the participation of the latter in the national dialogue. In August 2022, the national dialogue was held in the Chadian capital, N’Djamena, with participation from the government, civil society and some of the armed groups. Having exhausted the promised 18-month transition period, the August 2022 dialogue granted an extension of the transitional period for an additional two years and allowed Mahamat Idriss Déby to run in future elections. Former President Idriss Déby Itno governed according to the principles he publicly stated in December 2007 as “Too much liberty kills liberty. Too much liberty leads to disorder. Too much democracy destroys society.”
KEY ISSUES
In October of 2022, demonstrations were held in N’Djamena and elsewhere in the country to denounce this extension of the transition period and to demand the transfer of power to civilians. Demonstrators were met with excessive armed force. Hundreds demonstrated from opposition parties and civil society associations, including Wakit Tama (meaning “the time has come”), a coalition of civil society organizations, and an opposition party, Les Transformateurs (Transformers). The authorities, evoking “risks of disturbing public order”, banned the protests. The provisional toll from the October 20 protest was 50 dead and 300 injured.
Reacting to the crackdown against the October protests and deaths of demonstrators, Samira Daoud, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for West and Central Africa, said: “Violent clashes occurred this morning between security forces and demonstrators in N’Djamena and elsewhere in the country. According to initial testimonies collected by Amnesty International, the security forces fired live ammunition at demonstrators, just like in April 2021 and in Abeche in January 2022, killing several dozen people including a child. We call on the Chadian authorities to immediately halt the excessive use of force against demonstrators. The right to freedom of peaceful assembly is enshrined in national and international texts, including the guidelines of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights. These provisions must be respected to allow each person to express themselves freely and without fear for their life. The authorities must take immediate action to investigate and bring to justice those responsible for unlawful killings.”
The Chadian law governing freedom of peaceful assembly remains contrary to international standards including the guidelines of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, which state that protests do not require prior approval but, at most, prior notification. A national commission of inquiry was set up and a commission led by the Economic Community of Central African States began a separate investigation in December 2022.
Excessive force was used, and the right to freedom of assembly violated, in 2021 after the establishment of the transitional military council. In January 2022, a demonstration was held in Abéché to protest the planned appointment of a new canton chief from the Bani Halba community. According to the NGO Chadian Convention for the Defence of Human Rights, over a two-day period at least 13 protesters were killed and 80 injured. On January 25, a government spokesperson denied the use of firearms in a statement to the press. On February 3, a government delegation visited Abéché and acknowledged the disproportionate use of force. At least 212 people were also arrested, according to local organizations. Some were reportedly ill-treated before being released after five days in detention without charge. In early September of 2022, security forces surrounded the headquarters of Les Transformateurs and fired tear gas. Human rights defenders and the leader of the Transformers reported that several demonstrators were injured.
In May 2022, following dispersal of a demonstration by the Wakit Tama platform, six of its leaders were transferred to Moussoro prison, 300km from N’Djamena. According to their lawyers, their case should have fallen within the jurisdiction of the Court of N’Djamena. The Public Prosecutor announced that they were being prosecuted for “gathering with a view to disturbing public order, attacking property and physical aggression”. Following a trial in Moussoro, they were sentenced to a 12-month suspended prison term each.
On August 30, 2022 a demonstration by the “unemployed graduates” movement to demand jobs in the civil service was also dispersed by the police. According to the movement’s leaders, several members were injured during the dispersal. Several people were arrested and released a few hours later.
In September 2022 at least 140 people who were gathered in front of the office of the Transformateurs party were arrested and released the same day. They were protesting against the national dialogue and the security forces’ surrounding of the building.
Following the October 2022 demonstrations, hundreds of people, including children, were arrested and illegally transferred to Koro Toro, 500km from N’Djamena. In December, after hearings held behind closed doors, which were boycotted by the defendants’ lawyers, 262 defendants were sentenced to prison terms ranging from two to three years; 80 defendants were given suspended sentences ranging from one to two years, and 59 defendants were acquitted, according to the public prosecutor.
Chad should amend ordinances regulating public meetings and protests to insure they meet international human rights standards on the rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly. Civil society platforms should be able to operate without fear of prosecution or reprisals. Charges of contempt of court and defamation to restrict the right to freedom of expression should cease, as should using the criminal justice system to target those exercising rights to freedom of expression, including human rights defenders and journalists.
In addition to arbitrary arrests, and violations of freedoms of protest and peaceful assembly, Chadian authorities restrict civic space with long internet shutdowns, deliberately restricting the internet during mobiliations organized by dissenting voices. There has historically been a close link between internet cuts and Chad’s important moments of political dispute. These disruptions impacting all internet users undermine freedom of expression. WhatsApp and Facebook have been the most frequently restricted networks. Human rights activists told Amnesty International that internet restrictions have seriously impeded their ability to expose human rights violations and peacefully mobilize action in protest against them. They also limit the visibility of their actions via the internet. Access to the internet is indissociable from freedom of expression.
Torture, rape, and other forms of ill-treatment in detention occur in Chad. Prison conditions are bad, and at worst, life-threatening. Detainees are at greater risk of torture or extrajudicial execution when held incommunicado or in unauthorized or undisclosed places of detention.
Chad’s judicial departments lack transparency, accountability, or means for reparation for human rights violations. The security services operate in an atmosphere of almost complete impunity for human rights abuses. Courts and prosecutors fail to investigate extrajudicial executions or prosecute those committing other human rights violations. The independence of the judicial system is flawed by a lack of independence from the political power structure.
Chad has not insured accountability within the security services, particularly the Agence Nationale de Securité (ANS). The ANS powers of arrest are not subject to sufficient judicial oversight, and persons who are victims of abuse by the ANS have no effective recourse and or access to reparation. The police, army, ANS, and gendarmerie should end unlawful arrest, incommunicado detention, extrajudicial executions, and detentions without charge beyond the 48-hour period stipulated in the Criminal Code.
All detainees, after their arrest and regularly during their detention, should be allowed to see their families, independent medical practitioners, and lawyers of their choice. Independent human rights monitors should have access to all detention centers. The ANS should comply with UN good practices on legal and institutional frameworks for intelligence services and should not detain individuals in unregistered or unlawful facilities.
In September of 2022, transitional president Mahamat Idriss Déby wrote to the minister of finance asking him to transfer CFA 10 billion (USD 14.8 million) as the state’s contribution to the fund to compensate the victims of the regime of former president Hissène Habré, who was removed from power in President Idriss Déby Itno’s 1990 coup d’état. Over 7,000 victims had been awarded CFA 82 billion (over USD 135 million) by the Extraordinary African Chambers in 2017 in the trial against Hissène Habré, and CFA 75 billion (nearly USD 124 million) by Chadian courts in 2015 in the trial against former agents of Hissène Habré’s regime, but they had not received any compensation by the end of the year.
According to reports by the media and NGOs, the armed group Islamic State’s West Africa Province (ISWAP) continues to unlawfully kill civilians in the Lake Chad area. In early August of 2022, ISWAP fighters reportedly killed six civilians in the village of Aborom. In September 2022, ISWAP reportedly killed one person and looted several homes in Baltram. Alleged ISWAP fighters also killed five civilians on a boat in Baga Sola in September.
Communal violence leading to killings between individuals were recurrent during 2022. In February at least 10 people were killed in inter-communal violence in the town of Sandana. In May, violence in Danamadji resulted in the deaths of six people. In September, at least 17 people were killed in Mangalmé. According to local NGOs, the disputes originated from tensions between herders and farmers over access to natural resources, especially grazing land. On each occasion the authorities announced investigations and set up local dialogues to resolve the conflicts.
According to the Famine Early Warning System, rising prices and fuel shortages increased food insecurity. Conflicts between farmers and herders also disrupted agricultural production and seasonal herding. According to OCHA, in July approximately 2.1 million people in Chad were food and nutritionally insecure. Austerity measures instituted by the government should not result in discrimination of any kind; the most marginalized groups should be prioritized when allocating resources. Chadians’ economic, social and cultural rights to health care, education and adequate standard of living should be preserved and maintained.
According to UNICEF, 67% of girls in Chad were married before the age of 18 and 30% before the age of 15, giving Chad one of the highest rates of child marriage globally.
On July 19, 2022, Chad created the Observatory for the Promotion of Gender Equality and Equity, with a mission to promote the inclusion of measures for gender equality in public policies.
In August 2022, the Higher Council for Islamic Affairs in Mangalmé, Guera region, introduced a fine for people who refuse marriage proposals. The Chadian League for Women’s Rights denounced this measure as promoting the forced marriage of girls.
Relevant Links
- Chad: One year after the establishment of the Transitional Military Committee, freedom of peaceful assembly remains hampered, 20 April 2022 (French only)
- Chad: Release detained opposition members and supporters, 30 May 2022 (French only)
- Chad: Repression of demonstrations must stop immediately, October 2022
- Chad: Repression of protests continues as authorities fail to protect right to freedom of expression, October 2021
- Chad: Announcement of investigation following death of protesters must lead to prosecutions, June 2021
- Chad: Internet shutdowns impeding freedom of expression, April 2021
- Chad: Deaths following violent crackdown on protests must be investigated , April 2021
- Chad: Opposition members and human rights activists banned from freely protesting ahead of election, February 2021
- Chad: People forced to pay a heavy price for harsh austerity measures, July 2018
- Chad: ‘We are all dying here’: Human rights violations in prisons, 2012
- Chad: Strangled budgets, silenced dissent: The human cost of austerity measures in Chad, 2018
- Chad: Increasing use of repressive laws amid brutal crackdown on human rights activists, September 2017
- In Chad, austerity measures do not spare pregnant women, July 2018
- Central Africa Regional Action Network Facebook page
- Country Profile: Chad
- Chad: Further information: Human rights defender facing bogus charges: Baradine Berdei Targuio, 2020
- Chad: Protect human rights defenders, 2019
- Chad: New law jeopardizes the right to freedom of association, October 2018
- Chad: Crackdown on fundamental freedoms: Amnesty International submission for the UN Universal Periodic Review, 31st Session of the UPR Working Group, November 2018
- Céline Narmadji: Courage in the face of intimidation, September 2017
- Chad: Between Recession and Repression: The rising cost of dissent in Chad, 2017
- Chad: Victims in the case against Hissène Habré awarded reparation, July 2016
- The long road to justice for Chad’s Hissene Habre, May 2016
- Chad: In the name of security? Arrests, detentions and restrictions on freedom of expression in Chad, 2013
- The Rights to Health, Education and Protest at Risk in Chad
- RFI: 3 Years in Jail for posting about Deby’s health
- Chad: Authorities must investigate raid and killings at presidential contender’s house, March 2021
- Chad: Amnesty International Annual Report 2021/22