OPINION No. 8/1999 (CHAD)
Communication addressed to the Government on 23 June 1998
Concerning Ngarléjy Yorongar
The State is a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
1. The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention was established by resolution 1991/42
of the Commission on Human Rights, which extended and clarified its mandate
in resolution 1997/50. In accordance with its methods of work, the Working Group
transmitted the above-mentioned communication to the Government.
2. The Working Group regrets that the Government did not reply within the 90-day
time limit.
3. The Working Group regards deprivation of liberty as arbitrary in the following
cases:
(i) When it manifestly cannot be justified on any legal basis (such as continued
detention after the sentence has been served or despite an applicable amnesty
act)
(category I);
(ii) When the deprivation of liberty is the result of a judgement or sentence
for the exercise of the rights and freedoms proclaimed in articles 7, 13, 14,
18, 19, 20 and 21 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and also, in
respect of States parties, by articles 12, 18, 19, 21, 22, 25, 26 and 27 of
the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (category II);
(iii) When the complete or partial non-observance of the international standards
relating to a fair trial set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
and
in the relevant international instruments accepted by the States concerned is
of such gravity as to confer on the deprivation of liberty of whatever kind,
an
arbitrary character (category III).
4. In the light of the allegations made, the Working Group would have welcomed
the Government’s cooperation. In the absence of any information from the
Government, the Working Group believes that it is in a position to render an
opinion on the facts and circumstances of the case, especially since the facts
mentioned and the allegations contained in the communication have not been contested
by the Government.
5. According to the communication, a summary of which was submitted to the Government,
Mr. Yorongar is an opposition deputy in the Chad National Assembly. He expressed
public criticism of the way in which a petroleum project undertaken by an international
consortium in his constituency was being handled by the Head of State and his
family. He also criticized the President of the National Assembly, alleging
that he had improperly received certain sums of money paid by oil companies,
and the Head of State, maintaining that his election campaign and that of the
President of the National Assembly, during the presidential elections of 1996,
had been financed by the ELF petroleum group, a member of the above-mentioned
consortium.
6. By a letter of 4 August 1997, the Minister of Justice requested the Procurator
General to initiate proceedings against Mr. Yorongar for contempt and abuse
of the Head of State (Penal Code, arts. 118 et seq.). For his part, in a letter
dated 1 August 1997, the President of the National Assembly lodged a complaint
of defamation with the Procurator General.
7. The Procurator General accordingly notified the President of the National
Assembly that he was initiating dual proceedings for the removal of Mr. Yorongar’s
parliamentary immunity. On 26 May 1998, the National Assembly voted for the
removal of Mr. Yorongar’s parliamentary immunity, and on 3 June 1998 he
was arrested and held in detention. On 20 July 1998, he received an enforceable
sentence of three years’ imprisonment and a fine of 50,000 CFA francs.
His appeal was rejected.
8. The source states that the judicial proceedings against Mr. Yorongar were
characterized by several incidents and irregularities, such as to confer an
arbitrary character on his detention.
9. The Working Group notes that, according to the source itself, Mr. Yorongar
benefited from a presidential pardon which was notified orally to the source
by the Chad Minister of Justice, and that Mr. Yorongar was released on 4 February
1999 and authorized to resume his seat in the National Assembly. He was subsequently
able to address the United Nations Commission on Human Rights at its fifty-fifth
session.
10. In view of the foregoing, and having considered all the information in the
file brought to its attention, and without determining whether or not the detention
of Mr. Yorongar was arbitrary, the Working Group decides, in conformity with
paragraph 17 (a) of its methods of work, to file the case.
Adopted on 20 May 1999
E/CN.4/2000/4/Add.1