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| - Chad on Friday issued a new ban on anti-government protests ahead of an April presidential vote which 30-year incumbent Idriss Deby Itno is expected to be re-elected. In a decree, Justice Minister Djimet Arabi said marches and sit-ins scheduled for February 13, 15 and 16 in the capital N'Djamena and the provinces are "strictly forbidden" as "they are likely to trigger disturbances to public order." The opposition is demanding greater social justice and curbs on presidential terms to allow for a regular change in leadership. Several opposition parties, including the UNDR led by Saleh Kebzabo, the runner up in the 2016 presidential election with 12.8 percent of the vote, have called for protests on Saturday. Also Friday, 12 activists and opposition leaders arrested at demonstrations a week ago were given suspended sentences of three months in jail, while two others were acquitted. All 14 had been arrested last Saturday, including leading activist Mahamat Nour Ahmed Ibedou, the secretary general of Chad human rights group CTDDH and fierce government critic. They were charged with disrupting public order, deliberately hurting people and destroying property at rallies in defiance of a protest ban on the day Deby was declared his party's candidate for president. Amnesty International said earlier this week that Chad government bans over the last three months on protests were "unnecessary and disproportionate" restrictions on the right to protest peacefully. Abdoulaye Diarra, Amnesty's Central Africa researcher, denounced what he called arbitrary arrests during this period. "The situation confirms the rapidly shrinking civic space in Chad as elections approach despite the Constitution and international law guaranteeing every citizen the right to freedom of association and demonstration," he said, calling on the government to release all those arrested simply for protesting peacefully. The presidential contest will take place on April 11 and legislative elections, frequently postponed over the past five years, have been set for October 24. Fifteen parties in Chad's fragmented opposition said on Tuesday that they had named a single candidate, political newcomer Theophile Bebzoune Bongoro, to contest the presidential elections. During his long rule, Deby has been accused of authoritarianism and nepotism as well as failing to address the poverty that afflicts many of Chad's 13 million people. Despite oil wealth, the country ranks 187th out of 189 in the UN's Human Development Index (HDI). yas-amt/lc/tgb/pvh
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