The preliminary draft constitution adopted by the transitional parliament was approved by a majority of voters in a December 17 referendum. The process was widely criticised by civil society and opposition leaders for its lack of inclusiveness and failure to consider key concerns of the political opposition such as intimidation, lack of freedom of speech and assembly.
On 22nd February 2024, a decree removed Mahamat Nour Ahmat Ibédou as president of the National Human Rights Commission. The Commission he presided over was about to publish an account of the events of 20th October 2022. That day, security forces in Chad fired live ammunition at protesters, killing and injuring scores. Many people were arrested, and were taken to Koro Toro, a high security prison. Mahamat Nour Ahmat Ibédou wrote that the use of lethal weapons was disproportionate and unjustified because the police had the possibility of dispersing this demonstration by other means.
On 27th February 2024, an attack on the offices of the Agence Nationale de Sécurité de l’Etat, Chad’s domestic intelligence service, left “several people dead” in N’Djamena, according to the Chadian government. The authorities blamed militants of the Parti Socialiste Sans Frontières, led by opposition figure Yaya Dillo. The next day, Yaya Dillo was killed when the army raided his party’s headquarters. He was a vocal opponent of Mahamat Idriss Déby. Twenty-six people were arrested during the assault and were still detained incommunicado three months later. Amnesty International called on Chadian authorities to ensure them a fair trial.
A month later, on 24th March 2024, the Constitutional Court barred ten candidates from participating in the presidential elections, including the outspoken opposition figures Nassour Ibrahim Neguy Koursami and Rakhis Ahmat Saleh. Their applications were deemed ‘non-compliant’ and ‘inadmissible’ due to irregularities in the required administrative documents. The opposition denounced these manoeuvres to disqualify candidates, and the opposition platform Wakit Tama called for a boycott of the election, criticising it as a “farce.”
After three years of transition marked by serious human rights violations and in a context of severely restricted civic space and political violence, presidential elections were held on 6th May 2024. General Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno was declared presidential winner with 61% of the vote. In its long report on the presidential elections, the Chadian branch of the citizen collective Tournons La Page is of the opinion that the Electoral Agency for the Management of Elections, the High Authority for the Media and Audiovisual and the Constitutional Council contributed to favouring an electoral process with unverifiable results, rather than guaranteeing an honest process. On the day of the election, 76 activists belonging to the party Les Transformateurs were arrested and detained outside N’Djamena. The Electoral Code allows the presence of delegates of candidates in polling stations, subject to their accreditation by the National Election Agency. The activists were accused of having forged documents to access the polling stations, which they denied.
The day after the election, the European Union deplored the non-accreditation of 2,900 civil society members it had trained with European funds to observe the election and contribute to the transparency of the electoral process.
FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION: Obstacles of all kinds to curtail press freedom
Internet outages amid heavy gunfire in the capital
After the attack on the offices of the Agence Nationale de Sécurité de l’Etat and the subsequent attack on the headquarters of the Parti Socialiste Sans Frontières at the end of February 2024, internet connectivity and telecommunications were disrupted. Data shows that internet connectivity was restored on 1st March 2024.
⚠️ Update: Metrics show a further decline in internet connectivity in #Chad following this morning's telecoms disruption; the incident comes as searches are imposed at checkpoints amid heavy gunfire in the capital following a deadly attack at the National Security Agency HQ 📉 pic.twitter.com/LczUiMnDR0
— NetBlocks (@netblocks) February 28, 2024
Radio journalist killed
On 1st March 2024, the home of journalist Idriss Yaya, a journalist for Radio Communautaire Mongo, was stormed by a group of nine individuals. The intruders killed Yaya, his wife and his four-year-old son. Yaya had collaborated with a media outlet in an investigation that reported on the acquisition of arms by a faction involved in intercommunity clashes. First threatened and then attacked, he was finally shot dead. The nine individuals implicated in the journalist’s murder have been arrested but have not been convicted and the investigation continues. Yaya became the third journalist to be killed in Chad between 2022 and 2024, and as CIVICUS wrote earlier, these deaths are yet to be investigated by the authorities.
#Tchad : Idriss Yaya, journaliste de la radio communautaire de Mongo, son épouse et leur fils ont été abattus à leur domicile. RSF appelle les autorités 🇹🇩 à traduire les responsables en justice et à protéger les journalistes.👇https://t.co/ybqqS3pf0F pic.twitter.com/UPnIp9OugF
— RSF (@RSF_inter) March 8, 2024
Suspension of media outlets and ban on interactive broadcasts ahead of the elections
On 18th March 2024, the High Media and Audiovisual Authority (HAMA) decided to suspend 31 media outlets, including some 20 French- and Arabic-language printed newspapers, as well as seven online news sites. According to the regulatory authority, these bodies have not complied with the legal obligation to appear at least once a year and to make a legal deposit. This decision came about a month and a half before the presidential election held on 6th May. Eric Kokinagué, the founder of Tribune Infos (one of the suspended media) lamented this attitude of the Haute Autorité des Médias et de l’Audiovisuel: “Every time we get close to an election in our country, there is talk of suspending a good number of media outlets that could cause problems. This is a repressive decision”.
A month later, the same authority decided to ban any interactive broadcast in the public and private media during the presidential campaign. According to the Authority, this decision is justified by the fact that the Chadian media do not have “sufficient human resources to carry out political interactive programmes, which may respect the principles of balance, equity and pluralism”. The Chadian Press Association denounced the measure as abusive and as favouring those already in power.
Barring journalists’ access to victims of post-election military shooting
Right after the announcement of the provisional results of the presidential election, a series of violent events occurred, and celebration firing by military personnel with kalashnikovs and automatic weapons killed and injured people. On 10th May 2024, the Minister of Public Health, through an administrative circular, prohibited all health facilities from providing journalists with information on admitted patients wounded by heavy and light weapons in the euphoria surrounding the proclamation of the results of the presidential election The statement also instructed caregivers not to let journalists interview injured people or photograph them. The Chadian Press Association immediately denounced the serious threats to freedom of the press and to the right to access information. Following the reaction of the Chadian Press Association, the Minister of Communication also warned journalists to emphasise the need to respect medical confidentiality and that it should take precedence over any journalistic consideration.
FREEDOM OF ASSEMBLY
Amnesty for all involved in the bloody 2022 crackdown on protesters
CIVICUS Monitor earlier reported the absence of accountability for the 218 people killed and the hundreds detained during and after the repression of the “Black Thursday” protests in 2022. On 23rd November 2023, an amnesty law was passed by the acting Parliament (the National Transition Council), removing the possibility of prosecutions. This law provides an amnesty to all – military or civilian, already prosecuted or not – who participated in the 2022 violence. The opposition and NGOs have denounced the amnesty as a move by the government to shield the police and military officers from responsibility for the killings. Human Rights Watch writes that this law not only cheats victims, it also rewards abusers.
NEW: Chad’s military is responsible for the deaths in custody of several detainees en route to and at Koro Toro prison in October 2022.
— Human Rights Watch (@hrw) August 6, 2024
New report documents in detail the detention of 72 people, several of whom were tortured or ill-treated at Koro Toro. https://t.co/zJYfEXR5aT pic.twitter.com/qAChtHfRwZ
Human Rights Watch conducted a specific investigation on human rights violations associated with the transit of detained protesters to Koro Toro and at Koro Toro prison itself and published a report in August 2024, finding the military responsible for the deaths in custody of several detainees en route to and at Koro Toro prison. The authorities categorically deny the findings of the Human Rights Watch report. Minister of Foreign Affairs and Government spokesperson Abderaman Koulamallah announced a counter-investigation and potential prosecution of the NGO for disinformation and libel.
Daring demonstrators face bans, tear gas or arrest
On 29th January 2024, students protested in the vicinity of N’Djamena University to demand the departure of the university president and denounce the expulsion of dozens of students. Police forces used tear gas to disperse the gathering. Two days later, students announced a strike and erected barricades to protest the refusal to rehabilitate students who were excluded for misbehaviour. A court had ordered their re-registration but the University’s president refused. Around ten students, including the President of the National Union of Chadian Students (UNET), were arrested for disturbing the peace.
In March 2024, a peaceful march at the initiative of the Revolutionary Movement for Democracy and Peace (MRDP), scheduled to take place on Monday 10th March against the presence of French troops, was banned at the risk of disturbing public order.
On 31st March 2024, people protested in the centre of Bebedjia following the death of a prisoner at the police station, to hold the police to account. Shooting was heard to disperse the crowd and the journalist covering the event, Reouhoudou Innocent, was detained and his phone confiscated.
On 2nd May 2024, the caravan of leaders of the Groupe de concertation des acteurs politiques, a group opposing the transition, was arrested when entering the town of Abévé, in the Ouaddaï province. The group called for a boycott of the presidential election scheduled for 6th May. All their leaflets were confiscated.
Masra Succes, the young leader of the party The Transformers and an opponent of Déby, challenged the election results announced on 9th May 2024 and urged citizens to mobilise peacefully in the hours and days following the announcement of the results. Despite this call, no rallies were reported on the streets of the capital. Armoured and law enforcement pick-up trucks were deployed around the Transformers headquarters. The shooting at night by the military and the regime’s supporters were as much shots of joy as a warning to the opposition.