Chad: Authorities must ensure fair trial for imprisoned relatives of killed opposition leader

Chadian authorities must ensure the right to a fair trial for 26 people detained incommunicado for more than three months following an attack on the headquarters of an opposition party ahead of Chad’s presidential elections, Amnesty International said today.

Since the attack by Chadian security forces on the headquarters of the Socialist Party without Borders (PSF) in N’Djamena on February 27, 2024, in which party leader Yaya Dillo Djerou was killed, the 26 defendants, all relatives of Djerou, have still not been brought to justice. Among them are three children and several chronically ill people who are denied medical care. According to information from Amnesty International, the relatives are being held in the Koro Toro high-security prison, 600 kilometers from N’Djamena.

All detainees must be released immediately unless they are timely charged with an internationally recognized crime and tried in a process that complies with international fair trial standards.

Samira Daoud, Amnesty International Regional Director for West and Central Africa

“They have not been brought before a judge and have no lawyer. We have no access and no news,” said a family member who wished to remain anonymous.

“The rights of the 26 people detained in Koro Toro have been blatantly violated for three months and continue to be so. We call on the Chadian authorities to fulfil their obligations by bringing the detainees before a judge, allowing them to choose a lawyer and detaining them in a location close to their families in accordance with Chadian and international human rights standards. Those in need must be able to receive appropriate medical care without delay. All detainees must be released immediately unless they are promptly charged with an internationally recognized crime and tried in a process that complies with international fair trial standards,” said Samira Daoud, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for West and Central Africa.

No investigation into the attack on the PSF headquarters

On February 29, 2024, the Public Prosecutor’s Office announced the death of PSF leader Yaya Dillo Djerou. Authorities had accused supporters of Yaya Dillo Djerou of carrying out an attack on the headquarters of the National Security Agency on February 27 in order to obtain the release of PSF Finance Minister Abakar Torabi, who was arrested on suspicion of involvement in an attack on the Supreme Court on February 19, 2024. Supporters of Yaya Dillo Djerou deny these allegations.

The large-scale military attack on the PSF headquarters on February 27, 2024 was described as a shooting by the authorities and as an assassination by Yaya Dillo Djerou’s supporters.

On March 5, Prime Minister Succes Marsa stated that the attack on the PSF headquarters would be subject to an “international” investigation. However, there is no public information on the details and status of such an investigation. In the meantime, the party headquarters has been razed to the ground and the judicial authorities have not since provided any information on the situation of the 26 people arrested on the day of the attack.

Repeated crackdown on protests and waves of arrests

These cases of solitary confinement are part of a pattern of repression against opposition supporters in Chad. Since April 2021, the transitional authorities, who took power after the death of President Idriss Deby, have cracked down on opposition protests and arrested hundreds of people. All those arrested were taken to Koro Toro prison.

We call on the Chadian authorities to immediately end these unacceptable practices and to respect the country’s human rights commitments and commitments.

Samira Daoud, Amnesty International Regional Director for West and Central Africa

On October 20, 2022, 128 protesters were killed by police officers during a protest in N’Djamena and elsewhere in the country, according to the National Human Rights Commission, while hundreds more were arrested, detained in Koro Toro and sentenced to two to three years in prison, in violation of the right to a fair trial, denounced by Amnesty International. In March 2023, 259 prisoners detained in Koro Toro were pardoned, and in November 2023, the authorities passed a general amnesty law for crimes committed during the events of October 20, 2022.

“In October 2022, hundreds of people were detained in Koro Toro under similar conditions for several weeks following the brutal crackdown on a demonstration. During the seizure of power led by Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno until his election as President of Chad, we witnessed a consistent pattern of repression against opposition supporters. These cases of arbitrary and isolated detention violate national and international human rights law. We call on the Chadian authorities to immediately end these unacceptable practices and to respect the country’s human rights obligations and commitments,” said Samira Daoud.