Ngarlejy Yorongar (Chadian opponent): “Europe must stop being naive with the Chadian regime”

(BRUSSELS2) Ngarlejy Yorongar, President of the Federalist Party, one of the main opponents of President Idriss Déby's regime, was in the European Parliament this week at the invitation of the Greens group. Arrested and secretly detained at the beginning of February, he miraculously reappeared on March 2, mainly under international pressure. He agreed to talk to me about the circumstances of his arrest ("attributable to Déby's political police"), the regime currently in place in Chad ("worthy of PolPot and author of crimes against humanity"), the presence of Eufor in the region (“a mistake”) and the possibilities of ending the crisis (“inclusive dialogue” and “lifelong immunity” for the current president).

You were arrested on February 3, why?

— Déby (the Chadian president) took advantage of the rebels' offensive to try to eliminate people who could offend him. It cleans up before the legislative (2009) and presidential (2010) elections.

The Chadian regime claims to have nothing to do with your arrest?

- Listen. The people who arrested me wore the official armbands and distinctive signs of the Chadian army. And, among them, there was Ismaël Chaïbo, the director general of the political police, the ANS. I know him well, he has already arrested me... We were transferred to a secret prison, in Farcha, west of N'Djamena, in a camp which protects Idriss Déby's garden. I found the former president there, Lol Mahamat Choua (Editor's note: released on February 28) and I was followed by Ibni Oumar Mahamat Saleh (Editor's note of whom we have not heard). Many people were mistreated. We were chained for 24 hours. / 24 for 19 days. I wasn't even allowed to wash or take a shower. Déby came twice to this secret prison, all sirens blaring, and he spoke with our jailers. But he did not enter the cells. So when he says neither Yorongar nor Ibni were arrested, those are lies. Gross lies.

Can you take stock of the number of people arrested?

- It's hard to say. I don't want to give a precise number. But several people, several dozen, are probably dead. Many of my activists disappeared or were summarily executed afterwards. Some were packed into the prison like sardines and probably died of suffocation.

How do you know ?

— I've been arrested 14 times… I'm starting to have habits, reflexes. We can talk to each other through the cells. There are also the perforated shutters from which one can see the courtyard. I then saw that Ibni (another Chadian opponent arrested at the same time), fainted or dead.

How would you qualify the regime of Idriss Déby

“He's not just an authoritarian head of state. It's a PolPot diet...

PolPot is it heavy as a reference?

- Yes. I maintain. They are the same methods. The opponents disappear. In Chad, the president's men can – as I reported in a book – slit the throat of a pregnant woman and take away her child. This regime is committing crimes against humanity and even genocide. He attacks families, ethnic groups, political groups. This is the definition of genocide. Idriss Déby's regime is not acceptable, at any cost.

Do you think that the arrival of the European military force, Eufor, in Chad is therefore a mistake?

- Yes. Eufor should not intervene. The Europeans have gotten themselves into a trap. They did not gather sufficient information before deploying this force. The belligerents, the rebels, one and the other, will not let Eufor have its way.

Eufor displays its neutrality and does not intend to protect the regime however?

— If that's the case, when Déby realizes that Eufor isn't doing his thing, that it isn't intervening as he wishes, he'll trap the Europeans with provocations. He will, I'm sure.

But do we have to protect the many refugees and displaced people in the region?

- Be serious. Why do you think there are displaced people? It was Déby's men who destroyed the villages, killed some inhabitants, and forced others to leave. Read Amnesty International's latest report. Why are there refugees? And who created the Darfur rebellions? It's Déby with the oil money. He thought it would be easy in Sudan, like with the Central African Republic when he had Ange Patassé kicked out. But Bashir resisted and gave him back his own coin, in turn creating a rebellion behind his back. Only disorder can keep this regime in power. Europe must not be naive.

What should the European Union do then?

— Europe must help the Chadians to organize an inclusive dialogue to reach a global and definitive solution, in the country and the region. Because peace in Chad will inevitably lead to peace in Sudan. I say an "inclusive" dialogue bringing together everyone: rebels, democratic parties and civil society

International pressure not enough?

- I do not see her. If really, there was pressure, we would have already had this dialogue. I don't blame Europe, I simply ask it to play its part, not to take sides and to press for this dialogue and democracy.

Is Déby's departure a prerequisite?

- No. It can be chased away quite simply by transparent elections. We can even grant lifelong immunity. Déby is very afraid of finding himself like Charles Taylor, in court. Lifetime immunity for a dialogue sounds like an honest trade to me.

Have you applied for political asylum in Europe?

- For now, it's not my concern, I have a three-month visa, which is enough for me. What worries me more is my health. I'm afraid I was poisoned when I was in detention, I have to take stock. Failing to put a bullet in my head, as he (Déby) had publicly promised to 64 executives in my native region (Editor's note: in southern Chad, an oil-rich region) by telling them "we must silence Yorongar , he can try to get me with other means.

And you do not intend to be silent?

— A dead goat is no longer afraid of a knife.

(Comments collected by Nicolas Gros-Verheyde)

Published in Europolitics, March 2008