イスラム過激派の４４人、チャドの拘置所で死亡　毒殺か

【ヌジャメナＡＦＰ＝時事】チャドの拘置所で、ナイジェリアのイスラム過激派組織「ボコ・ハラム」のメンバーとみられる収容者44人が死亡した状態で発見された。全員が同組織に対する軍事作戦の際に拘束された収容者で、毒殺されたとみられる。チャドの検事総長が18日、明らかにした。（写真は資料写真）
　検事総長は国営テレビに対し、収容者４４人が１６日、監房内で死んでいるのが見つかったことを明らかにした。うち４人の遺体に検視を行ったところ、心臓発作や窒息状態を引き起こした致死性物質の痕跡が見つかったという。
　チャドのイドリス・デビ大統領は３月末、チャド湖周辺での大規模な軍事作戦を開始。今回死亡したのは、この作戦で拘束された容疑者５８人のうちの４４人という。
　検事総長は、「チャド湖周辺での戦闘後、ボコ・ハラムのメンバー５８人が捕虜として拘束され、捜査のためヌジャメナに移送された」と説明。「１６日朝、看守らは４４人の収容者らが監房内で死んだ状態で発見されたと話した」とし、自身も現場を訪れたと明かした。
　さらに、「４０人の遺体を埋葬し、４人の遺体を検視のために監察医へ渡した」と説明。収容者らがどのように死亡したのかを正確に判断するため、現在捜査が行われている段階だという。
　その一方、匿名を条件に取材に応じた治安筋はＡＦＰに対し、「収容者５８人が１つの監房に収容され、２日間食べ物も飲み物も全く与えられなかった」と述べた。
　同国の人権団体の事務局長も同様の批判を展開。ＡＦＰに対し、「当局は捕虜を小さな監房に閉じ込め、食べ物や水を３日間与えなかった。なぜなら彼らがボコ・ハラムに所属していたとされるからだ」と話した。
　チャド政府は、こうした主張を否定。
　ジメ・アラビ法務・人権担当相はＡＦＰの電話取材に対し、「虐待は一切なかった」と主張。「毒物が彼らの腹で見つかった。心中か何かが起きたのか？ われわれは答えを求めている」とし、今も捜査中だと述べた。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2020/04/20-13:09）

A group of 44 suspected members of Boko Haram, arrested during a recent operation against the jihadist group, have been found dead in their prison cell, apparently poisoned, Chad's chief prosecutor announced Saturday.
Speaking on national television, Youssouf Tom said the 44 prisoners had been found dead in their cell on Thursday.
An autopsy carried out on four of the dead prisoners revealed traces of a lethal substance that had caused heart attacks in some of the victims and severe asphyxiation in the others, he said.
The dead men were among a group of 58 suspects captured during a major army operation around Lake Chad launched by President Idriss Deby Itno at the end of March.
Following the fighting around Lake Chad, 58 members of Boko Haram had been taken prisoner and sent to Ndjamena for the purposes of the investigation, said Tom.
On Thursday morning, their jailers told us that 44 prisoners had been found dead in their cell, Tom said, adding that he had attended the scene.
We have buried 40 bodies and sent four bodies to the medical examiner for autopsy. An investigation was ongoing to determine exactly how the prisoners had died, he said.
- 'It's horrible' -
A security source, speaking on condition of anonymity told AFP that the 58 prisoners were placed in a single cell and were given nothing to eat or drink for two days.
Mahamat Nour Ahmed Ibedou, secretary general of the Chadian Convention for the Protection of Human Rights (CTDDH), made similar accusations.
Prison officials had locked the prisoners in a small cell and refusing them food and water for three days because they were accused of belonging to Boko Haram, Ibedou told AFP. It's horrible what has happened.
The government denied the allegations.
There was no ill-treatment, Chad Justice Minister, Djimet Arabi, told AFP by telephone.
Toxic substances were found in their stomachs. Was it collective suicide or something else? We're still looking for answers, he said, adding that the investigation was still ongoing.
One of the prisoners was transferred to hospital on Thursday, but he was faring much better and had rejoined the other 13 prisoners still alive and who are doing very well, the minister said.
- Major operation against Boko Haram -
Earlier this week, the minister told AFP the captured men had been transferred to Ndjamena on Tuesday evening and handed over to the court system for trial.
The military operation against Boko Haram killed more than a thousand of the group's militants and cost the lives of 52 soldiers, a Chadian army spokesman said. The operation ran from March 31 to April 8.
It was launched in response to a devastating attack on Chadian troops on March 23 on a base at Bohoma, in the Lake Chad marshlands, that killed 98 soldiers. It was the largest one-day loss the army has ever suffered.
Since then, Idriss has warned his allies in the region that Chad's army will no longer take part in operations outside the country.
The force, considered one of the best in the region, has fought Boko Haram in the Lake Chad region as part of the Joint Multinational Force with Nigeria, Cameroon and Niger.
But on Friday, French Defence Minister Florence Parly said Chad remained committed to the G5 Sahel anti-jihadist force operating in the region.