Curfew in Chad after deadly protests in the country

Curfew in Chad after deadly protests in the country

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On Thursday, October 20, violent clashes erupted in Ndjamena and several other cities in Chad between police and protesters opposed to the extension of the transition period. The Prime Minister has ordered a curfew in four cities until “order is fully restored” while the human toll is very high. Mr Kebzabo also announced the suspension of all activities by major opposition groups.

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Clouds of smoke, barricades and live ammunition according to witnesses in the heart of Chad. This Thursday evening, after a deadly day, Interim Prime Minister Saleh Kebzabo announced at a press conference the introduction of a curfew between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. in four cities: Ndjamena, Moundou, Doba and Koumra. Until the “total restoration of order”.

Mr. Kebzabo reports “about fifty dead”, especially in Ndjamena, Moundou and Koumra, and mentions “almost 300 wounded”. The government “will bring order to the entire territory and will no longer tolerate excesses, wherever they come from,” he promises, denouncing an attempt by an armed insurrection to take power. The head of government assures that those responsible, the insurgents, will be brought to justice.

This extraordinary press conference is imposed on us by the serious events that the country experienced on October 20, 2022, the date chosen by the insurgents to organize a genuine popular armed uprising. These insurgents bear the heavy responsibility for about fifty dead and almost 300 wounded, especially in Ndjamena but also in Moundu, Doba and Koumra. too many dead to feed the hunger for power of Mr. Success Masra and Mr. Yaya Dillo.

Excerpt from the speech of Saleh Kebzabo, Prime Minister of Chad

Amelie Tulet

A day of violence

A little earlier, a first assessment by the spokesman for the Chadian government had spoken of “thirty” dead in these clashes, including “ten” members of the security forces. “A banned demonstration turned into a riot,” Aziz criticized Mahamat Saleh, quoted by Agence France-Presse. “The protesters attacked public buildings, the governorate, the headquarters of the prime minister’s party and that of the speaker of the National Assembly,” he said.

According to Portal, the violence erupted when some began erecting barricades and setting fire to Mr Kebzabo’s party headquarters. Several hundred people took to the streets of the capital on Thursday morning, although the demonstration had actually been banned by the authorities. They opposed the retention of power by transitional President Mahamat Déby, who arrived last year after the death of his father Idriss Déby in April 2021. The seats of the parties of the current prime minister, but also of his predecessor, the UNDR and the RNDT Le Réveil, were vandalized.

Our correspondent in Ndjamena, Majiasra Nako, in turn mentions the 6th, 7th, 9th and 1st arrondissements. He explains that the first shots started in the middle of last night and that the first tear gas canisters were fired in the early hours of the morning. Then, he confirms, live ammunition could be heard, for very long hours. After a prayer-time lunch break, protests resumed in the evening when the Prime Minister spoke

All this while a national unity government was formed in Chad last Friday in hopes of leading the country to elections postponed to October 2024.

A young journalist killed

The government says law enforcement just hit back and defended themselves. The police were on duty, but so was the army. In the ninth arrondissement, alongside police, plainclothes men in smoked cars were also seen shooting at protesters.

There is still time to search for the bodies, our correspondent in Ndjamena notes. In the afternoon, the wounded were transported to the health centers under very strict surveillance; at Union Hospital, for example, where there were at least seven bodies. Families who came to get theirs were gassed.

A journalist was able to count at least 18 bodies in the morgue of the National Reference General Hospital. Among the dead that day, we regret the presence of a young journalist, Oredjé Narcisse.

The soldiers shot at the demonstrators at close range. […] There are many gunshot wounds.

Richard, human rights activist in Moundou

Gaelle Laleix

The opposition accused

In his press conference, the interim prime minister made very insulting remarks about the opposition. Saleh Kebzabo announced the cessation of all activities from several movements including the Transformers and Wakit Tama. Seven political parties are banned from exercising their activities and their premises are closed for a period of three months. A judicial commission is announced to determine responsibilities.

Max Loalngar, Wakit Tama’s civic action coordinator, previously spoke on RFI.

The day was a nightmare. Several cities came together as one to express their distaste for the violence we have been witnessing for thirty years, to also say that we are a people who only seek freedom and that in all intelligence in a prosperous Country wants to live with all communities (…) Never in Chadian memory have we had such carnage, it’s just bestial, animalistic, it’s unimaginable, it’s despicable; I have no words to say. We never expected defense and security forces to be able to fire on their population.

Reaction from Max Loalngar, by Wakit Tama

Magali Lagrange

UN calls for investigation

According to the Front pour l’alternance et la concorde au Tchad (Fact), it was a fierce repression against peaceful demonstrators on Thursday.

The head of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, also condemned the suppression of the demonstrations internationally.

France also condemns this violence. In a press release from the State Department, Paris specifically mentions the use of deadly weapons against the demonstrators.

The Foreign Ministry spokeswoman stressed that France “plays no part in these events, which are exclusively a matter of Chad’s internal politics.” “False information about an alleged French involvement is completely unfounded,” she says.

The United Nations is already calling for an investigation into the deaths. “The transitional authorities must guarantee the security and protection of human rights, including freedom of expression and peaceful assembly,” the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said in a tweet.

Residents we were able to reach in Ndjamena and Moundou said they still heard sporadic gunfire around 7pm (Paris time). “We are afraid of what will happen tonight,” confided one of them. Everyone feared nightly arrests.