The African Regional Organisation of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC-Africa www.ituc-africa.org) joins the entire world in strongly condemning the massacre of the Chadian citizens who took to the streets to protest the further delay of the country’s transition towards civilian rule. 100 people have been reported killed and over 300 people injured. There are further reports indicating that security agents are perpetrating clandestine killings, which may triple the figures of the dead and injured.
This heinous crime of mowing down defenceless citizens must not go unaccounted. Those responsible for this brutal killing must not go unpunished and the families of the bereaved and injured must be adequately compensated.
ITUC-Africa expresses grave concern about the failure of the Transitional Military Council (TMC) to respect the earlier agreement to conduct national elections after eighteen (18) months which was scheduled to end on October 20, 2022. That agreement also included that General Derby, the son of the former president, would not run for office.
We call on the Military Junta to take urgent steps to address the emergent crisis from its failure to respect the earlier agreement on the transition. We urge the TMC to engage in genuine dialogue with all political forces, trade unions and other civil society groups to set the constitutional frame for a new government. It is only genuine dialogue with clear commitment to return Chad to civilian constitutional and democratic rule that can resolve the continuing political crisis.
Finally, we call on the African Union to decisively and effectively exercise its mandate on Chad as agreed by the 2021 General Assembly which endorsed the transition timeline. The AU must call on the TMC to respect and stick to the roadmap agreed to by all stakeholders.
Kwasi Adu-Amankwah
General Secretary, ITUC-Africa
October 22, 2022
