Amnesty International has vocalized a firm demand for the Chadian authorities to immediately release 10 detained relatives of Yaya Dillo Djerou, the deceased leader of the opposition Parti Socialiste sans Frontières (PSF). These individuals, who were acquitted in July, remain held in the Koro Toro maximum security facility. Djerou was killed in a military assault on the PSF headquarters in February 2024, a raid regarded as an execution by his supporters. Despite their acquittal, the relatives have remained incarcerated, prompting Amnesty International to call their detention arbitrary and incompatible with both national and international human rights laws.
The human rights organization additionally urges Chadian authorities to reveal charges against 14 other relatives, who were convicted in the same case, transfer them to detention facilities located in N’Djamena as stipulated by national law, and ensure their appeals follow procedural norms in alignment with Chad’s human rights commitments. Amnesty International had previously highlighted concerns about the deplorable conditions in Koro Toro prison, where the detainees, including minors and individuals with chronic illnesses, lack access to medical care.
This matter echoes broader patterns of repression experienced by PSF members, marked by arbitrary and incommunicado detentions, which contravene legal rights to family and legal counsel access. Amnesty’s Regional Director for West and Central Africa, Samira Daoud, criticized the imprisonment as emblematic of a persistent strategy to stifle political dissent in Chad. Amnesty’s statement parallels similar calls for justice for the PSF’s Secretary-General Robert Gam, who has been detained since September 2024.
The detention of the relatives comes amid a sustained clampdown on opposition movements in Chad, which gained notoriety following the deadly suppression of demonstrations in October 2022. The authorities have yet to conduct an investigation into the violent events at the PSF headquarters, a situation that Amnesty describes as a severe breach of human rights obligations. The overarching theme of the alleged repressive measures adopted by the Chadian government indicates a troubling precedent and raises serious questions over its adherence to international human rights standards.