Chad: Three Years on, Victims of “Black Thursday” still Await Justice and Reparation
In Chad, on 20 October 2022, hundreds of civilians taking part in a peaceful demonstration were brutally repressed by the security forces. The report published by the OMCT and the Chadian League for Human Rights (LTDH) in April 2023 revealed that more than 218 people were killed, dozens tortured, hundreds injured, more than 1,300 arbitrarily detained and at least 40 people disappeared. Hundreds of people were deported to Koro Toro prison, the “Chadian Guantanamo” in the heart of the desert 800 km from the capital, where they were subjected to torture and inhumane conditions of detention, without access to a lawyer or their families. These serious violations, which occurred on the fringes of peaceful demonstrations calling for respect for the Constitution, have plunged many families into mourning and the Chadian people into a climate of fear and uncertainty.
Three years after the now infamous “Black Thursday”, no investigation has been opened and the victims are still waiting for justice and reparation. The enactment in November 2023 of an amnesty law covering the bloody events of 20 October 2022, in contradiction with Chad's international commitments, illustrates the will to erase responsibilities in the name of national reconciliation. Furthermore, since these events, the country has experienced worsening political and social tensions, marked by systematic violations of the rights of political opponents, journalists and members of civil society, all with complete impunity. The government's current initiative to reinstate the death penalty in Chad further marks this regression of fundamental freedoms in the country.
A victim* of the “Black Thursday” crackdown shared with us his experience, his vision of justice and his hopes for the future.
*For security reasons, his name has not been disclosed.
Can you briefly tell us what you experienced on Thursday, 20 October 2022, and how this event affected your life?
The events of 20 October 2022 remain a very sad and painful time for me and for the other brothers and sisters who were victims. The peaceful demonstration, which was intended to protest the 18-month transition period planned by the Transitional Military Council (CMT), quickly turned tragic when the defence and security forces, after exhausting their supply of tear gas, fired live ammunition at the demonstrators.
I was arrested at my home on the night of 20 October 2022, along with other people, by soldiers from the Chadian Nomadic National Guard (GNNT). They burst in while I was asleep and brutalised, tied up and tortured me in front of my whole family. I was taken to the Abena school in N'Djamena, which had been converted into prison cells, where the torturers subjected us to inhuman and degrading torture. I was then deported, along with about 1,000 other people, to the high-security prison of Koro Toro, in the middle of the desert in northern Chad. On the way, we had no water and some people died of thirst and were thrown onto the sand. Our tormentors also forced us to bury the bodies of other detainees when we arrived at the prison. During my more than nine months of detention in Koro Toro, I endured very difficult conditions: the food served was rotten and contained razor blades and other dangerous objects, and I did not receive proper medical care. Because of my detention, I lost my job and now feel complete distrust towards the current regime.
On the night of 20 October 2022, soldiers broke into my home and brutally assaulted, tied up and tortured me in front of my entire family.
Three years later, and despite a complaint having been filed with the Chadian criminal courts on behalf of a group of Black Thursday victims seeking justice, to date no criminal investigation into the events has been opened. How do you view the response of the Chadian authorities, as well as that of the international community, to these events?
The response of the Chadian authorities is a headlong rush and an admission of weakness, as they refuse to allow justice to shed light on the barbarity they have inflicted on the Chadian people. The silence of the international community is a complicit silence. I call on the international community and all national and international human rights and civil society organisations to take up the case of the victims of 20 October 2022 so that justice can finally be done. The bodies of all the victims in Koro Toro and elsewhere must be exhumed and returned to their parents so that they can be given a dignified burial and the families of the missing victims can mourn their loss. I also call on the international community to demand that the Chadian authorities close the Koro Toro prison outright, as it does not meet any international standards for prisons.
Despite the difficulties, what gives you strength today, and what would you like to say to young people or the families of victims?
It is nothing other than hope that gives us victims the strength to hold on and face the very difficult security, health and social challenges in Chad. Because we firmly believe that one day we will come face to face with our torturers in court and they will not have the courage to look us in the eye. That day will be a day of relief and joy for us, the victims, because justice will have triumphed for us. That is why I ask my brothers and sisters who are victims and all their families to remain dynamic and serene in our quest for justice, and not to lose hope.
