The human rights organisation, Amnesty international (AI) , has accused of France of knowing the whereabouts of three Chadian opposition figures arrested early this month in N’Djamena by the government. AI, casting doubts on France’s denials on where the three men were, said on Wednesday that the French government knew of their whereabouts as early as 11 February. Lol Mahamat Choua, Ngarlejy Yorongar and Ibni Oumar Mahamat Saleh were arrested at their homes on 3 February in N’Djamena by members of President Idriss Déby’s presidential guard after the withdrawal of the rebels from the capital. The French authorities had affirmed that they had no information on the whereabo uts of these men. “Amnesty International (saw) today (Wednesday) a private correspondence which re veals that France did know that the three men had been arrested by agents of the Chadian security forces and that they were detained at the Police Intelligence Division in N’Djamena,” a communiqué of the organisation revealed. It said since then, Lol Mahamat Choua was found in a military prison but was now under house arrest, but it did not know what had become of Ngarlejy Yorongar an d Ibni Oumar Mahamat Saleh. AI called on the French government to immediately publish all the information they have regarding the two men. “These men are most likely to be tortured. The French government should not play down the excesses of the Chadian government, whatever the agreements concluded b etween the two countries say,” AI said.
