Documento - Chad: Detención en régimen de incomunicación / temor de tortura
PUBLIC AI Index: AFR 20/013/2007
10 December 2007
UA 326/07 Incommunicado detention/fear of torture
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CHAD |
Haroun Mahamat Abdoulaye (m), Sultan of the département of Dar Tama Abdelkarim Mahamat Toraye (m), Préfet (governor) of the département of Dar Tama Brahim Idriss Ibrahim (m), army officer Youssuf Abdekarim Abdoulaye (m), army officer Yakoubaye Oumar Adam (m), army officer Abdelaziz Moussa (m), army officer Ali Kaikit (m) |
The seven men named above were arrested in the eastern town of Guéréda (eastern Chad) on 30 November. They are believed to be detained incommunicado, and have not been brought before a judge. They are at grave risk of torture and being disappeared.
Some of the seven are members of the former armed opposition movement Le Front Uni pour le Changement Démocratique (FUC), United Front for Democratic Change. They were arrested during or soon after a meeting with President Deby to discuss the disarmament of former FUC elements based in the eastern town of Guéréda which have so far refused to disarm..
On 7 December, during an interview with the broadcaster Radio France Internationale, a government spokesperson confirmed that the men had been arrested, but did not say where they were held.
The seven belong to the Tama ethnic group: the FUC was mainly made up of Tama people. Haroun Mahamat Abdoulaye is a Tama leader, the Sultan of Dar Tama. The seven have family ties with the former Minister of Defence, Mahamat Nour, who was sacked by the president on the day they were arrested, after seeking refuge at the Libyan embassy in N’Djamena. They have also family ties with a dozen soldiers and civilians who are believed to have been abducted by government agents in the capital, N’Djamena, in mid- April 2006. These army officers and civilians were detained by Chadian security forces because they allegedly were involved in, or had knowledge of, an attack on N’Djamena by the FUC and other armed opposition groups. They have not been seen since.
Amnesty International is gravely concerned that the seven men arrested in Guéréda on 30 November will face the same fate of those arrested in April 2006 in N’Djamena, in particular because the authorities have refused to disclose their whereabouts and failed to respect their rights as detainees.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Since early 2000, Chadian armed opposition movements have waged low-intensity warfare which has been exacerbated by the spill-over of thousands of refugees from Sudan in 2003 and the politically contentious 2005 constitutional changes which, in 2006, enabled President Idriss Deby to be re-elected for a third term .
On 24 December 2006 the government reached a peace agreement with the FUC. As a result of this agreement, FUC leader Mahamat Nour was appointed Minister of Defence on 4 March 2007 and the FUC elements joined the national army.
In October 2007, fighting broke out in Guéréda between Chadian soldiers and FUC elements which claimed the army had tried to disarm them by force. Because of this fighting, a state of emergency was declared in the area of Guéréda. It is well established in human rights treaties and in customary international law that some rights, such as the right to freedom from torture, may never be suspended under any circumstances, in particular during states of emergency.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible, in French, English or your own language:
- urging the authorities to reveal immediately what has happened to the seven men (naming them) and why they have been detained, and promptly inform their families and legal representatives;
- urging them to ensure that the seven are given immediate access to their lawyers, families and any medical attention they may require;
- urging them to release the men unless they are to be charged with recognizably criminal offences and brought promptly to trial in accordance with international fair trial standards.
APPEALS TO:
President
Son excellence Idriss Deby Itno
Présidence de la République
BP 74
N'Djamena
Fax: +2352514501
Email: presidence@tchad.td
Salutation: Monsieur le président/Dear President Deby
Minister of the interior
M. Ahmat Mahamat Bashir
N'Djamena
Fax: +2352522139
Salutation: Monsieur le ministre
Minister of justice
M. Albert Pahimi Padacket
BP 426/5495
N'Djamena
Fax: +2352522139
Email: justice@intnet.td
Salutation: Monsieur le ministre/Dear Minister
Minister of human rights
Mme Fatime Issa Ramadane
BP 426
N'Djamena
Fax: +2352522139
Email: justice@intnet.td
Salutation: Madame la ministre/Dear Minister
COPIES TO: diplomatic representatives of Chad accredited to your country.
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with the International Secretariat, or your section office, if sending appeals after 18 January 2008.