Amnesty International Report 1995 - Chad

More than 200 unarmed civilians were extrajudicially executed by government forces in areas where armed political groups were active. Several hundred civilians suspected of supporting armed government opponents were detained and some were still held without trial at the end of the year. Government opponents and human rights activists were detained briefly; some received death threats. Torture was reported. Over 20 people reportedly "disappeared". Two people remained under sentence of death and four people were sentenced to death, three in absentia. No executions were reported. An armed political group was responsible for the deliberate and arbitrary killing of scores of defenceless civilians. In March a committee set up in December 1993 by the Higher Transitional Council submitted a draft new constitution, an electoral code and a charter for political parties to a commission composed of representatives of political parties and independent organizations. The texts had not been approved by the government or adopted by the Higher Transitional Council by the end of the year. Legislative and presidential elections which were announced for April 1994 were not held. In December President Idriss Déby announced that legislative elections would be held in April 1995. A National Human Rights Committee was established in October 1994. The government decree setting up the committee stated that it was to advise the government on human rights and to bring laws into line with the Charter for Human Rights adopted by the National Conference in April 1993. The August session of the UN Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities strongly condemned massive and persistent human rights violations committed by the security forces, including the Republican Guard, and asked the authorities to put into effect measures to promote human rights. In May, after the International Court of Justice ruled that the Aouzou strip belonged to Chad, Libyan troops withdrew from the territory along Chad's northern border which they had occupied since 1973. After several years of armed conflict in the south of the country, in September a peace accord was signed in the neighbouring Central African Republic between the Chadian Government and the armed political group, the Comité de Sursaut National pour la Paix et la Démocratie (CSNPD), Committee of National Revival for Peace and Democracy. The Forces Armées pour la République Fédérale (FARF), Armed Forces for a Federal Republic, a group which split from the CSNPD, did not take part in the peace negotiations. In December President Idriss Déby decreed an amnesty for all detainees and political exiles with the exception of his predecessor, Hissein Habré. In areas where armed political groups were active, notably in Logone Occidental and Oriental provinces in the south and around the town of Abéché in the northeast, such groups attacked and killed both soldiers and civilians. More than 250 defenceless local people were killed in reprisals by the armed forces. Some victims were shot dead in the presence of witnesses; others were seized by the security forces, then tortured and killed. Despite the findings of local human rights organizations that the security forces had extrajudicially executed civilians, the government failed to take action against the killers. At least 200 unarmed civilians were extrajudicially executed in January by government forces including the Republican Guard, an army unit directly responsible to President Idriss Déby. The killings followed an attack on the military barracks in Abéché by members of an armed group known as the Front National du Tchad (FNT), Chad National Front, led by Dr Al Harris. The fnt had signed a peace treaty with the government in June 1992, but its provisions were apparently never implemented. There were reports of widespread looting and rape by government soldiers and by the Republican Guard. Soldiers reportedly rampaged through areas of Abéché, killing unarmed civilians suspected of supporting the FNT. The authorities announced that 30 people had died in the attack, mostly FNT combatants. However, an investigation carried out in February by members of several Chadian human rights organizations concluded that at least 200 unarmed civilians had been extrajudicially executed by government forces within a few days of the FNT attack. Two children of Abou Annour, the village chief of Kabartou, were among the victims. In June a number of civilians in the sub-prefecture of Bousso were killed by government forces after an altercation between the army and the csnpd. Several people accused of colluding with the rebels were arrested and later released. Further extrajudicial executions were reported in the south between 12 and 14 August, after fighting in Logone Occidental province between the army and the farf. In reprisal for the deaths of five soldiers killed in action on 12 August, the army burned down several villages in the district of Kaga, assembled the inhabitants, then killed more than 25 of them. One pregnant woman and several children were among the victims. In the village of Kaga the head of a district and a village chief were tied up and beaten by soldiers. Early in the year reports emerged of the extrajudicial execution in 1993 of Adoum Acyl, former commander in chief of the army, a day before the killing of Abbas Koty to whom he was reportedly closely allied (see Amnesty International Report 1994). Members of the Republican Guard tried to shoot him but their guns reportedly jammed; they then ran him over with a vehicle. Government soldiers arrested several hundred local people apparently suspected of colluding or sympathizing with the fnt combatants after the attack on Abéché in January. Many were released within days, including Mahamat Yachoub, a 72-year-old imam. Other civilians were reportedly released in early February after President Idriss Déby visited Abéché. Peaceful opponents of the government and human rights activists were detained for short periods. They appeared to be prisoners of conscience. For example, Ngarlejy Yorangar le Mohiban, a journalist and director of a satirical publication, was arrested on 3 March and held for four days. He was accused of spreading false information about President Déby. Simon Béassingar, former prefect of Kanem, was arrested and held for 16 days in the police station in Sarh before being released. He was accused of inciting the inhabitants of Moundou to protest against a visit of President Déby to Logone Occidental. Two members of the Chadian League of Human Rights – Enoch Djondang and Abou Laoukara – received death threats from suspected government agents. There were numerous other arrests of people accused of opposing the government, none of whom was referred to the courts. It was impossible to establish if the accusations against them were genuine or fabricated. For example, Zakaria Garba, a member of the Prime Minister's political party, was detained in July by the Intelligence Service and accused of planning a coup. He was released without charge after 18 days. In July Dr Abdelazziz Kadouck, a gynaecologist at N'Djaména hospital, and Mahamat Koty, brother of Abbas Koty, were arrested by the National Intelligence Service and the Republican Guard on the grounds that they were members of an opposition group. They were held incommunicado in two different secret detention centres and tortured. In October both were held at the headquarters of the Intelligence Service and later Dr Abdelazziz Kadouck was transferred to N'Djaména hospital for medical treatment. In December they were released as a result of the amnesty. In October several members of an opposition party were arrested when President Déby visited the town of Mao, Kanem. Some were beaten at the time of the arrest. They were released without charge after eight days. Eight civilians detained in 1993 and accused of planning to overthrow the government remained in detention until they were released as a result of the amnesty at the end of the year. They appeared to have been held purely on account of their contact with Abbas Koty. Those released included Bichara Digui and El Hadj Ahmat Gueou. Torture of detainees was reported in areas of counter-insurgency operations and also in the capital, N'Djaména. Young children and old people were among those reportedly tortured by security forces in Abéché following the fnt attack in January. The victims included eight-year-old Abdoulaye Hissein. An elderly woman, Atcha Issaka, died as a result of ill-treatment by soldiers. Izedine Ibrahim and Anour Ousmane, two farmers, were reported to have been hit on the face and to have each lost an eye. In the nearby village of Hayam-Matar, women were reported to have been raped by soldiers. At least 19 people who were abducted from their houses in Abéché by soldiers in January were unaccounted for by the end of the year; they had apparently "disappeared". One alleged supporter of Abbas Koty arrested in October 1993, Koché Issaka, was also reported to have "disappeared" from custody in 1994. Two members of the security forces convicted of murder in 1992 remained under sentence of death (see Amnesty International Report 1994). In November the criminal court sitting at Abéché passed four death sentences. Three of the accused were tried in absentia. The four were accused of belonging to an armed group which killed several people in a market place in Gniguilim in August 1993. There was no right of appeal to a higher court, and one of the accused, Yachoub Issaka, faced imminent public execution at the end of the year. Armed opposition groups, particularly the csnpd, were responsible for deliberate and arbitrary killings of civilians. At the end of June the csnpd shot and killed scores of unarmed civilians and burned several villages in the region of Ba-Illi in southern Chad. The victims included the village chief, some shepherds, a young schoolchild at the Koranic school and a nine-year-old girl. In April Amnesty International submitted information about its concerns in Chad for UN review under a procedure established by the Economic and Social Council Resolutions 728f/1503, for confidential consideration of communications about human rights violations. Amnesty International continued to appeal to the authorities to take steps to halt extrajudicial executions, including investigating reports and bringing those responsible to justice. No response was received.