PUBLIC AI Index: AFR 20/004/2008

05 March 2008

Further Information on UA 32/08 (AFR 20/001/2008, 05 February 2008) Incommunicado detention/Fear of torture/Fear of enforced disappearance

CHAD Lol Mahamat Choua (m), leader, Rassemblement pour la Démocratie et le Progrès (RDP)

Ngarlejy Yorongar (m), leader, Front d’Action pour le Renouveau (FAR)

Ibni Oumar Mahamat Saleh (m), leader, Parti pour les Libertés et le Développement (PLD)

Wadel Adbekader Kamougué (m), leader, Union pour Renouveau et la Democratié (UDR)

N
garlejy Yorongar, parliamentarian and leader of the Front d’Action pour le Renouveau (FAR) has resurfaced in Cameroon. He has said he was held in a detention facility near Farcha in the capital, N’Djamena, before being dumped in a cemetery in Ngomba in the south of N’Djamena on 21 February and then escaping. He suspects he could have been poisoned and might need specialised treatment. France has offered him political asylum.

The former Chadian president and leader of the Rassemblement pour la Démocratie et le Progrès (RDP), Lol Mahamat Choua, was found detained in a military facility in N’djamena. The Chadian government acknowledged they had him in custody on 14 February, before placing him under house arrest. He has since been released.

Amnesty International has also learned that Wadel Adbekader Kamougué the leader of Union pour Renouveau et la Democratié (UDR) escaped arrest on 3 February and is now hiding.

The whereabouts of Ibni Oumar Mahamat Saleh have been unknown since his arrest on 3 February, and he could be victim of enforced disappearance. He is leader of the Parti pour les Libertés et le Développement (PLD) and spokesperson for a coalition of opposition political parties. Both the international community and local civil society organizations have been pressuring the Chadian authorities to reveal his location and disclose why he was arrested.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

On 31 January 2008, armed opposition movements launched a major offensive on N’Djamena. Heavy fighting lasted three days. Hundreds of civilian casualties have been reported and thousands of people have fled the capital to neighbouring Cameroon. The deployment of EUFOR force to eastern Chad, where it was supposed to contribute to the protection of the civilian population and facilitate provision of humanitarian assistance, was halted for a few weeks by fighting.

On 14 February, Chadian president Idriss Deby Itno introduced a state of emergency which has since been extended to mid-March. It introduced a midnight curfew, checks on movement of people and vehicles, and restrictions on the media. On 18 February, Chadian private media unanimously decided to cease publication during the state of emergency and called upon the authorities to suspend the measure.

During a meeting in N’Djamena with the French president Nicolas Sarkozy, the European Union Commissioner Louis Michel and the head of the Francophonie organization Abdou Diouf on 27 February, President Deby announced that he has set up an international commission to investigate events which took place during the attack of N’Djamena at the beginning February.

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible, in French, English or your own language:

- asking the authorities to disclose the whereabouts of Ibni Oumar Mahamat Saleh

- urging them to ensure that he has immediate access to his family and lawyer

- urging them to either charge him with a recognizable offence or release him immediately

Please also send appeals to France and other UN Security Council State Members:

- asking them to use their influence to ensure that the government of Chad immediately revealswhat happened to Ibni Oumar Mahamat Saleh and why he has been arrested to his family, legal representatives and the international community

APPEALS TO:

Chad

President

Son excellence Idriss Deby Itno

Président de la République

Présidence de la République

BP 74

N'Djamena

Tchad

Fax: +235 251 45 01/ 252 43 73

Salutation: Dear President Deby

France

President

M. Nicolas Sarkozy

Président de la République

Palais de l’Elysée

55-57 Rue du Faubourg Saint Honore

75008 Paris Cedex

France

Fax: +33 1 47 42 24 65

Salutation: Dear President Sarkozy/Monsieur le Président

Foreign Minister

M. Bernard Kouchner

Ministre des Affaires étrangères et européennes

37 Quai d’Orsay

75351 Paris Cedex 07

France

Fax: +33 1 45 51 60 12

Salutation: Dear Minister/Monsieur le Ministre

United Nations

H.E. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin

President of the UN Security Council

Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation

136 East 67 Street

New York, NY 10065

USA

Fax: +1 212 628 0252

Salutation: Dear Ambassador

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 20 March 2008.