Did Kouchner lie about Chadian opponents ?

Where are the Chadian opponents arrested in the aftermath of the attempted coup initiated by the rebels in early February ? The cases of Ngarlejy Yorongar and Ibni Oumar Mahamat Saleh are especially worrying.

Last Friday, Chadian foreign and justice ministers assured in a press conference in Paris that Yorongar reappeared “in his neighbourhood in N’Djamena’. The two officials accused him of disappearing voluntarily and playing ‘hide and seek’ with the authorities.

Monday 25th Feb., French Foreign minister Bernard Kouchner was interviewed on the parliamentary station LCP-Sénat, and declared that Yorongar was actually hiding. ‘Mr. Yorongar (…) was found. He is still hiding, but quite reliable witnesses have seen him and he is alive,’ he said.

The problem is that these ‘quite reliable witnesses’ quoted by the French FM must be Chadian governemental officials. This assertion contradicts independent sources.
Meanwhile, Chadian human rights activists and the US-based Human Right Watch denied these statements, saying that the opponents were last seen in army custody.

“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”, the organization writes in its statement.

The question is : did Bernard Kouchner know about the opponents’ whereabouts when he said they were hiding ?

It would be a major blow for the French African diplomacy if it eventually happens that these opposition leaders do not reappear alive. But the French diplomacy is too busy working for the release of Ingrid Betancourt to do something for Déby’s opponents…

Déby: Too much democracy destroys society

Chadian president Idriss Déby, who accessed to power in 1990 thanks to a coup ran by the French DGSE, and was recently “armoured” by France, is not precisely a friend of democracy, as he explains in this speech, reported by AFP (source here).

I would honestly be surprised to see any reaction to these words coming from the French governement. Actually very few people believed Sarkozy’s promises, as he was running for presidential elections, to renew the relationship between France and Africa.

Gloves are off, Chad president warns rebels

N’DJAMENA (AFP) — Chad president Idriss Deby Itno Thursday warned of an increasingly hardline response to the worst rebel attacks in the central African nation in nearly 20 years.

Deby, who imposed a state of emergency in the north and east of the country during fierce fighting in October, warned on state radio that rebels in the oil-rich nation would face a crackdown.

“The time has come to take a different approach,” he said. “Too much liberty kills freedom. Too much freedom and we collapse into disorder. Too much democracy destroys society.”

“I have forgiven a lot. I’ve let lots of things go in the name of liberty. (But) the time has now come for each individual to recognise the law and his duties,” he said.

Chad’s three main rebel groups last Friday announced a joint pact to topple Deby.

The so-called “National Alliance” pact groups the Union of Forces for Democracy and Development (UFDD), the Rally of Forces for Change (RFC) and the UFDD-Fundamental.

Deby, a former soldier, appealed for a united front against the rebels.

“The whole country must stand together behind its government. Where (else) in the world have you seen a head of state jump into a Toyota pick-up and head off to war?

“Do you think it’s because I love power that I do it? Not at all, I went off because I don’t want Chad to plunge back into civil war.”

During the recent fighting which was the worst military challenge since he seized power in December 1990, Deby lost several members of his immediate entourage, according to military sources.

Accusing neighbouring Sudan of propping up the rebels, he added: “I am surprised to find today that the Chadian community harbours slaves for Sudan.

“Sudanese money circulates here, everyone sees and knows they are recruiting people from our territory.”