MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 30th April, 2021) UN Human Rights Office spokeswoman Marta Hurtado on Friday condemned the use of force during the suppression of protests against the military rule in Chad, calling for the prompt cessation of violence and investigation into the human rights abuses.
On Tuesday, six people were reported to have died in clashes between protesters and security officers in the capital of N'Djamena and southern regions. Chad's transitional military authority assumed power earlier in April after then-President Idriss Deby, who had been reelected for his sixth presidential term, died from wounds that he received in clashes between government troops and rebels in the country's north.
"We are deeply disturbed by the apparently disproportionate use of force - including the use of live ammunition - by defence and security forces in the context of protests in Chad this week, particularly on Tuesday when six people were reportedly killed and several wounded in the capital N'Djamena and in the second largest Chadian city of Moundou," Hurtado said in a statement.
The UN agency further called on the Chadian security forces to refrain from the use of force against protesters and to comply with the rule of law.
"All those detained for exercising their rights to peaceful assembly must also be promptly released. We also call on all relevant State institutions to conduct impartial, prompt, effective and transparent investigations into any human rights violations that may have occurred - including the apparent use of unnecessary or disproportionate force to disperse protests," Hurtado noted.
Over 700 people have been arrested during the protests, according to the Human Rights Office.
The transitional period in Chad is set to last for 18 months after which new elections will be held.
