Risk of abduction of human rights defender Dingamnayal Versinis
On 2 April 2020, human rights defender Dingamnayal Versinis received a call from an unidentified person who warned him that intelligence officers were planning to abduct him. Since then, he has been in hiding as he fears for his life.
Dingamnayal Versinis is the president of Collectif tchadien contre la vie chère (Chadian Collective Against the High Cost of Living- CTVC). The organisation denounces the increasing costs of basic goods and services in the country and mobilises civil society to peacefully defend economic rights.
On 2 April 2020, human rights defender Dingamnayal Versinis received a call from an unidentified person who warned him that intelligence officers were planning to abduct him. Since then, he has been in hiding as he fears for his life.
Dingamnayal Versinis is the president of Collectif tchadien contre la vie chère (Chadian Collective Against the High Cost of Living- CTVC). The organisation denounces the increasing costs of basic goods and services in the country and mobilises civil society to peacefully defend economic rights.
On 31 March 2020, Dingamnayal Versinis publicly called on the Chadian government to amend some of the measures taken in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, explaining that it was difficult to implement them given the frequent electricity shortages in the country. He also highlighted the lack of access to drinking water faced by many Chadians and the increase in its price between 2019 and 2020. Moreover, the defender denounced the lack of preparation of the security forces implementing the preventive measures against COVID-19.
On the evening of 2 April 2020, the first day of a country-wide curfew imposed by the government, Dingamnayal Versinis received a call from an unknown individual who warned him that four intelligence officers were tracking his location and planning to abduct him. The caller advised the defender to relocate. Fearing for his safety and physical integrity, Dingamnayal Versinis has gone into hiding.
Front Line Defenders is seriously concerned about the risk of abduction faced by human rights defender Dingamnayal Versinis. It believes that he is being targeted solely as a result of his peaceful and legitimate human rights work and his exercise of the right to freedom of expression.
