EXTERNAL AI Index: AFR 20/05/97
4 March 1997
Further information on UA 296/96 (AFR 20/15/96, 19 December 1996) - Fear of
extrajudicial execution
CHADOfficial statement sanctioning extrajudicial executions must be withdrawn
and remedied
Georges Toubade
Karbida Nérobé
and four unidentified men
New names:HOULIBELE Tissal, aged 32, KOKREO Guirsala, aged 35, POURE
Ouangrebélé, aged 30, HAPMON Faïtoin, aged 29, SERE Djakdjinkréo,
aged 43, DJAOUTOIN Taïssam, aged 40, MEDANDI Metoin, aged 30,
DJIBRILLA Yaya, LAMMA Djoïna, aged 39
Following an order signed by the commander of Chad’s specialized security units
of the National Gendarmerie and issued in mid-November 1996, instructing all
members of the Gendarmerie to extrajudicially execute criminals caught in the
act, Amnesty International has continued to receive information on new cases
of extrajudicial and summary execution in Chad. None have been the subject
of official investigations.
Amnesty International, and other national and international human rights
organizations, have raised their concerns in relation to this order with the
Chadian authorities, calling for the order to be immediately revoked and for
all allegations of extrajudicial execution and summary execution to be
investigated. In addition, on 20 February 1997 the European Parliament passed
a resolution in relation to the human rights situation in Chad, which stated
the European Parliament’s alarm: "..at the continuing human rights violations
in Chad, a country where the armed forces and the police are systematically
resorting to extrajudicial executions of citizens suspected of belonging to
opposition groups or considered to be criminals" and "condemns all forms of
violence.. calls for the immediate and unconditional release of political
prisoners... for the instructions to the ‘specialised army units’" to be
revoked.
Amnesty International has not received a direct response to its concerns,
although, on 3 March 1997, after meeting with members of the European parliament,
the Chadian Prime Minister, Koibla Djimasta said in a radio interview with
Radio France International that the policy was no longer in force and that
criminals would be handed over to the judiciary. He also stated that the policy
had allowed for criminals to be eliminated. Other senior officials of the
government have publicly condoned this policy. In an interview given to the
independent newspaper, N’Djaména-Hebdo, President Déby publicly supported the
policy, presenting it as a measure to deal with rising violent crime, and stating
that thieves should be killed. The foreign minister is reported to have said
the policy is working. Amnesty International has not received written
confirmation that the order has been revoked, nor is it clear, if this is the
case, how this has been communicated to specialized units and their commanders.
Amnesty International recognizes the duty of a government to take action to
ensure that the rule of law is upheld, but such action should itself be within
the framework of national legal procedures and international law protecting
human rights.