AU condemns crackdown in Chad as at least 50 reported killed

N’Djamena — A violent crackdown  on antigovernment protests by security forces  in Chad killed at least 50 people on Thursday, prompting a denunciation of the “repression of demonstrations” by the AU.

Prime Minister Saleh Kebzabo told a news conference that at least  50 people were killed and dozens injured.  He said security forces were acting in self-defence.

“What happened today is an armed popular uprising to seize power by force and those responsible for this violence will face justice,” said Kebzabo, who was named prime minister last week after his predecessor resigned to pave the way for a new administration.

“The demonstrators had firearms and they are considered rebels,” he said. 

Demonstrators demanding a faster transition to democratic rule barricaded roads and torched the party headquarters of the new prime minister as hundreds took to the streets.

The vast, military-run Central African nation has been in crisis since the April 2021 death of president Idriss Deby, who ruled with an iron fist for three decades. Deby was killed while visiting troops fighting rebels.

There has been resistance to a transitional military council headed by Deby’s son, who took power after the president’s death and pushed back elections to October 2024.

Opposition and civil society groups called the protests on Thursday, which would have marked the end of an initially agreed 18-month transition period. The government banned them citing security reasons.

But demonstrators showed up early in the morning, using burning tyres and debris to block roads in the capital.

Police fired teargas and rubber bullets to break up gatherings throughout the city.

Among the dead was Chadian journalist Oredje Narcisse, who had worked with Reuters in the past,  his brother said. He was not on assignment for the news agency when he was shot.

Other confirmed victims were 28-year-old protester Motcho Koumande, shot in the neck, and Chadian musician Ray’s Kim, who died in hospital.

The vice-president of the national pharmacists’ order, Haroun Badawi Badawi Mahamat, appealed for donations on Facebook.

“I firmly condemn the repression of demonstrations that led to deaths in Chad,” AU commission chair Moussa Faki Mahamat, who is a former prime minister of Chad, tweeted, calling for a peaceful solution to the crisis.

France

As crowds stormed the streets of N’Djamena waving Chadian flags, some protesters turned to the headquarters of Kebzabo’s National Union for Democracy and Renewal (UNDR) party.

A national unity government was formed on Friday to lead Chad for the next two years until elections. But critics are demanding a swifter return to democracy and a change in government after Deby's long rule.

“Our headquarters were ransacked and then set on fire this morning,” UNDR vice-president Celestin Topona said by telephone.

A spokesperson for the government did not respond to a request for comment.

Security forces have cracked down on several civil society and opposition-led protests denouncing the military takeover and France's backing of the transitional government, sometimes causing deaths in the process.

In May, police fired teargas and used water canon to disperse anti-French protests that saw the destruction of French-linked businesses.

France on Thursday condemned the violence and the use of lethal weapons against protesters.

“France has no role in these events, which are strictly a matter of Chad’s internal politics. The false information about an alleged involvement of France has no basis,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.

Update: October 20 2022
This story has been updated with new information.

Reuters