UA 332/91 - Chad: death penalty / legal concern: Hazarak Mansour, Ahmat Mouniama, Hassane Souleymane, Hassabalah Abderamane
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UA 332/91 Death Penalty/Legal concern 10 October 1991
CHAD Hazarak Mansour, soldier
Ahmat Mouniama
Hassane Souleymane
Hassabalah Abderamane
The four men named above were executed by firing squad in public at the race
course in Chad's capital, N'Djamena on Monday 7 October 1991, after being
sentenced to death by a Court Martial.
Hazarak Mansour was convicted of trying to steal a motorcycle in April
1991, Ahmat Mouniama was convicted of murdering his own father, and Hassane
Souleymane and Hassabalah Abderamane were convicted of armed robbery and
criminal association ("vol à main armée et association de malfaiteurs"). The
four were sentenced to death in recent months by a military court and appeared
to have no opportunity to appeal to a higher court. It is not known if they
were assisted at their trials by lawyers. They were executed in front of a
large crowd after President Idriss Deby rejected clemency appeals.
Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases on the
grounds that it constitutes a particularly cruel, inhuman and degrading
punishment and is a violation of the right to life.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
These are the first executions since a special Court Martial was set up in
April 1991 to curb growing crime, particularly by soldiers. Under the court's
rules of procedure defendants cannot appeal against its decisions. Since
President Idriss Deby took power in December 1990, there have been complaints
about an increased crime rate and an increased feeling of insecurity, blamed
mainly on a high number of weapons being available and the presence of large
numbers of soldiers in the capital, many of whom were until December 1990 members
of irregular forces. During the 1980s, when President Hissein Habré was in
power, the courts imposed few death sentences and no judicial executions were
reported. In contrast, many hundreds of prisoners were executed
extrajudicially.
Government official sources have claimed that these executions were
intended to be a deterrent.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Telegrams/telexes/faxes/airmail letters:
- expressing dismay at the public execution of four prisoners on 7 October;
- explaining that Amnesty International considers these executions to
constitute a violation of human rights - both a violation of the right to life
and a form of cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment, the use of which
contravenes the Universal Declaration of Human Rights;
page 2 of UA 332/91
- explaining that international human rights standards require that anyone
who is sentenced to death should have an opportunity to appeal against conviction
and sentence to a higher court (in some appeals refer to the set of safeguards
to be applied in capital cases, which were adopted by the United Nations Economic
and Social Council in 1984);
- expressing particular concern that the brutal spectacle of these executions
occurred in public and observing that this may encourage rather than deter
violent crime;
- explaining that studies of the effects of executions all around the world
have never shown that the death penalty is a more effective deterrent than
more humane forms of punishment;
- calling on the Chadian authorities not to carry out any further executions
but to carry out a review of all legislation and procedures concerning the
death penalty in order to increase respect for human rights and progressively
reduce the number offences punishable by death.
APPEALS TO:
Son Excellence Général Idriss DEBY Monsieur le Président de la
Président de la République du Tchad République
Présidence de la République
N'DJAMENA, République du Tchad
Telegrams: President Deby, N'Djamena, Chad
Telexes: 5201 PRESIREP KD or 5307 PRESIREP KD
Faxes: +235 51 4501
Monsieur Sounghi AHMED Monsieur le Ministre
Ministre des Relations extérieures
Ministère des Relations extérieures
N'DJAMENA, République du Tchad
Telegrams: Ministre affaires etrangeres, N'Djamena, Chad
Telexes: 5328 MINAFFET KD
Monsieur Maldom BADA ABBAS Monsieur le Ministre
Ministre d'Etat à l'Intérieur
et à la Sécurité
Ministère d'Etat à l'Intérieur et à la Sécurité
N'DJAMENA, République du Tchad
Telegrams: Ministre interieur, N'Djamena, Chad
Monsieur Youssouf TOGOIMI Monsieur le Ministre
Ministre de la Justice,
Garde des Sceaux
Ministère de la Justice
N'DJAMENA, République du Tchad
Telegrams: Ministre Justice, N'Djamena, Chad
COPIES TO: diplomatic representatives of Chad in your country
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with the International Secretariat,
or your section office, if sending appeals after 21 November 1991.