allAfrica.com: Chad: Account for 'Disappeared' Opposition Leaders (Page 1 of 2)

Human Rights Watch investigation in Chad has determined that two opposition politicians whom the government says it is not holding were in fact seized by state security forces on February 3. Their arrests were part of a crackdown on political opponents in the capital N'Djamena following a coup attempt by Chadian rebels in early February.

On February 21, the Chadian government stated that an official inquiry had been unable to locate Ibni Oumar Mahamat Saleh, spokesman for a coalition of opposition political parties, and Ngarlejy Yorongar, a prominent opposition member of parliament, nor determine the circumstances of their disappearance. Interior Minister Ahamat Mahamat Bachir later that day announced that Yorongar had been seen in his neighborhood the day before. However, multiple eyewitnesses told Human Rights Watch researchers in N'Djamena that Chadian government soldiers took the two men into custody on February 3. Yorongar's family and lawyers deny that he resurfaced.

"The government says it doesn't know how Yorongar and Ibni disappeared," said Georgette Gagnon, Africa director at Human Rights Watch. "Our inquiry leaves little doubt that it was the government which took them, and we hold the government fully responsible for their well-being and safe return."

Interior Minister Bachir on February 14 said that the two were seized at a time when rebel forces controlled their N'Djamena neighborhoods, suggesting that the rebels were responsible. Human Rights Watch's investigation found, however, that in each instance government security forces had reasserted full control over the neighborhoods in question before the reported time of their arrests.

According to eyewitnesses, on February 3 at about 5:30 p.m., soldiers arrived at the home of Ngarlejy Yorongar, president of the political party Federation Action for the Republic (Fédération Action pour la République, FAR). Rebel forces began before noon that day to withdraw from the area, the Moursal neighborhood in N'Djamena's 6th district, and by 3 p.m. only government forces were seen in the area. Eyewitnesses provided Human Rights Watch with detailed information about the soldiers' uniforms, insignia and vehicles, indicating that they were members of the Chadian National Army (Armée Nationale Tchadiènne, ANT). These included shoulder patches bearing the Chadian flag, distinctive yellow epaulet bars, and camouflage patterns and colors of uniforms and turbans that were all recognized to be Chadian army.

According to eyewitnesses, about 10 government soldiers forced their way into Yorongar's home after pounding on his gate. A like number of soldiers waited in the street outside.

An eyewitness described Yorongar's seizure: "The soldiers didn't hesitate. They went straight to Yorongar and took him and pushed him. He [Yorongar] said, 'It's not necessary to be violent. I'm going with you.'"

Yorongar was last seen being pushed into a new, beige Toyota four-wheel drive vehicle, of a type that is standard issue in the Chadian army. The vehicle had no license plates.

After Interior Minister Bachir announced on February 21 that Yorongar had re-appeared near his house, Foreign Minister Ahmad Allam-Mi accused Yorongar of playing "hide and seek." Yorongar's family denied having seen him and accused the government of "moral torture" by making false claims about Yorongar's whereabouts.

Ibni Oumar Mahamat Saleh, the spokesman of the Coordination for the Defense of the Constitution (Coordination Pour la Défense de la Constitution, CPDC) was also taken away on February 3. At about 7:30 p.m., approximately 10 heavily armed soldiers in a beige Toyota four-wheel drive vehicle arrived at Ibni's home. As of 3 p.m. that day, only government soldiers were seen in the area, the Deux Chateaux neighborhood in N'Djamena's 4th district.

An eyewitness told Human Rights Watch: "The soldiers said, 'Who is the owner of this house?' Ibni [Saleh] responded very quietly. He said, 'It's me.' They shoved him and his glasses fell, but they didn't let him pick them up. The soldiers put him in the back of a truck and took him away. He didn't resist."

Eyewitnesses similarly detailed the soldiers' uniforms as those of the Chadian army.

On February 22 the Chadian government announced it would establish a commission of inquiry, "open to the international community if necessary," to determine the whereabouts of the two missing opposition leaders.

Human Rights Watch is concerned that the two men are victims of enforced disappearance. The International Convention on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances, which Chad signed on February 6, 2006, defines an enforced disappearance as "the arrest, detention, abduction or any other form of deprivation of liberty by agents of the State or by persons or groups of persons acting with the authorization, support or acquiescence of the State, followed by a refusal to acknowledge the deprivation of liberty or by concealment of the fate or whereabouts of the disappeared person, which place such a person outside the protection of the law."

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