The demonstrations violently repressed in Chad, Thursday, October 20, were a "meticulously prepared insurrection" with the "support of foreign powers", said Monday, without naming them, President Mahamat Idriss Déby.
The opposition had called for demonstrations against the regime of the young general, which had just extended a transition period to elections by two years, on the proposal of a national forum boycotted by a large part of the opposition, civil society and armed rebellion. And this eighteen months after being proclaimed president – then at the head of a military junta – to replace his father, Idriss Déby Itno, killed at the front by rebels.
The transitional government had acknowledged on Thursday that "fifty people" had been killed, including a dozen members of the security forces, according to him, and accused the opposition of having fomented "an insurrection" and "a coup d'état". But NGOs and medical sources had spoken of dozens of "peaceful protesters" shot dead and hundreds wounded in N'Djamena and four cities in the south of the country.
It was "a real insurrection meticulously planned to create chaos in the country," said Monday Mr. Déby in a televised speech, accusing the demonstrators of having "coldly killed" "civilians" and "murdered" members of the security forces "in their barracks", with "the clear desire to trigger a civil war".
A seven-day national mourning
He accused the opposition and rebel groups of being the organizers and of having "recruited and used terrorist groups, paramilitary to carry out wanton mass assassinations", after having "solicited the support of foreign powers" to "access power". Without further details. The 38-year-old five-star general also declared a seven-day national mourning and promised that justice would determine "responsibility" for the "killings.
On Monday, the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) accused the government of "serious human rights violations" in the repression of Thursday's protests and of killing at least "80 people". The NGO claims to have referred cases of "summary executions" and "torture" of "peaceful demonstrators" to the UN Special Rapporteurs.
The African Union (AU) and the European Union (EU) had already "strongly condemned" on Thursday the repression of demonstrations and "serious attacks on the freedoms of expression and demonstration". The France, an ally of N'Djamena, had "condemned the use of lethal weapons against demonstrators".
On Tuesday, the heads of state and government of the eleven countries of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), including President Déby, are invited to an extraordinary summit in Kinshasa to discuss the situation in Chad behind closed doors.
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Informations From: Taun17