Idriss Déby

Idriss Déby إدريس ديبي
Déby in 2014
President of Chad
In office 2 December 1990 – 20 April 2021
Prime Minister	Jean Alingué Bawoyeu Joseph Yodoyman Fidèle Moungar Delwa Kassiré Koumakoye Koibla Djimasta Nassour Guelendouksia Ouaido Nagoum Yamassoum Haroun Kabadi Moussa Faki Pascal Yoadimnadji Adoum Younousmi Delwa Kassiré Koumakoye Youssouf Saleh Abbas Emmanuel Nadingar Djimrangar Dadnadji Kalzeubet Pahimi Deubet Albert Pahimi Padacké
Vice President	Bada Abbas Maldoum (1990–1991)
Preceded by	Hissène Habré
Succeeded by	Mahamat Idriss Déby as Chairman of the Transitional Military Council
Chairperson of the African Union
In office 30 January 2016 – 30 January 2017
Preceded by	Robert Mugabe
Succeeded by	Alpha Condé
Personal details
Born	(1952-06-18)18 June 1952 N'Djamena, French Equatorial Africa (now Chad)
Died
Political party	Patriotic Salvation Movement
Spouse(s)	Hinda Déby Itno (m. 2005)
Children	Mahamat Brahim
Ethnicity	Zaghawa
Military service
Allegiance	Chad
Service/branch	Chad Army
Years of service	1976–2021
Rank	Marshal

Marshal Idriss Déby Itno (Arabic: إدريس ديبي‎‎ Idrīs Daybī Itnū; 18 June 1952 – 20 April 2021) was a Chadian politician and military officer who was President of Chad from 1990 until his assassination by militant forces in 2021. He was also head of the ruling Patriotic Salvation Movement. Déby was of the Bidayat clan of the Zaghawa ethnic group. He took power by leading a rebellion against President Hissène Habré in December 1990 and survived various rebellions and coup attempts against his own rule. Déby won elections in 1996 and 2001, and after term limits were eliminated he won again in 2006, 2011, 2016, and 2021. He added "Itno" to his surname in January 2006. He was a graduate of Muammar Gaddafi's World Revolutionary Center. Several international media sources described Déby's multi-decade rule as authoritarian. He was killed in April 2021 while commanding his forces against rebels from the Front for Change and Concord in Chad (FACT).

Rise to power

Déby was born in Fada as the son of a Zaghawa herder. After finishing school he entered the Officers' School in N'Djamena. From there he was sent to France for training, returning to Chad in 1976 with a professional pilot certificate. He remained loyal to the army and to President Félix Malloum until central authority crumbled in 1979. Déby tied his fortunes to those of Hissène Habré, one of the chief Chadian warlords. A year after Habré became President in 1982, in exchange for his loyalty, Déby was made commander-in-chief of the army. He distinguished himself in 1984 by destroying pro-Libyan forces in Eastern Chad. In 1985 Habré removed him from his post and sent him to Paris to follow a course at the École de Guerre; on his return he was made chief military advisor to the Presidency. In 1987 he confronted Libyan forces on the field, adopting tactics that inflicted heavy losses to enemy forces. A rift emerged in 1989 between Habré and Déby over the increasing power of the Presidential Guard. Habré accused Déby of preparing a coup d'état, motivating Déby to flee to Libya.

According to Douglas Farah's article Harvard for Tyrants, Déby is an alumnus member of Muammar al-Gaddafi's training center.

He moved to Sudan and formed the Patriotic Salvation Movement, an insurgent group, supported by Libya and Sudan, which started operations against Habré in October 1989. He unleashed a decisive attack on 10 November 1990, and on 2 December Déby's troops marched unopposed into the capital, N'Djaména.

President of Chad

Idriss Déby assumed Chad's presidency in 1991. He had been re-elected every five years up until the time of his death.

1990s

After three months of provisional government, on 28 February 1991, a charter was approved for Chad with Déby as president. During the following two years, Déby faced a series of coup attempts as government forces clashed with pro-Habré rebel groups, such as the Movement for Democracy and Development (MDD). Seeking to quell dissent, in 1993 Chad legalized political parties and held a National Conference which resulted in the gathering of 750 delegates, the government, trade unions and the army to discuss the establishment of a pluralist democracy.

However, unrest continued. The Comité de Sursaut National pour la Paix et la Démocratie (CSNPD), led by Lt. Moise Kette and other southern groups sought to prevent the Déby government from exploiting oil in the Doba Basin and started a rebellion that left hundreds dead. A peace agreement was reached in 1994, but it broke down shortly. Two new groups, the Armed Forces for a Federal Republic (FARF) led by former Kette ally Laokein Barde, and the Democratic Front for Renewal (FDR), and a reformulated MDD clashed with government forces from 1994 to 1995.

Déby, in the mid-1990s, gradually restored basic functions of government and entered into agreements with the World Bank and IMF to carry out substantial economic reforms.

A new constitution was approved by referendum in March 1996, followed by a presidential election in June. Déby placed on the first round but fell short of a majority; he was then elected president in the second round, held in July, with 69% of the vote.

2000s

Idriss Déby was re-elected in the May 2001 presidential election, winning in the first round with 63.17% of the vote, according to official results. A civil war between Christians and Muslims erupted in 2005, accompanied by tensions with Sudan. An attempted coup d'état, involving the shooting down of Déby's plane, was foiled in March 2006.

In mid-April 2006, there was fighting with rebels at N'Djaména, although the fighting soon subsided with government forces still in control of the capital. Déby subsequently broke ties with Sudan, accusing it of backing the rebels, and said that the May 2006 election would still take place.

Deby was sworn in for another term in office on 8 August 2006. Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir attended Déby's inauguration, and the two leaders agreed to restore diplomatic relations on this occasion.

After Déby's re-election, several rebel groups broke apart. Déby was in Abéché from 11 to 21 September 2006, flying in a helicopter to personally oversee attacks on Rally of Democratic Forces rebels.

The rebellion in the east continued, and rebels reached N'Djamena on 2 February 2008, with fighting occurring inside the city. After days of fighting, the government remained in control of N'Djamena. Speaking at a press conference on 6 February, Déby said that his forces had defeated the rebels, whom he described as "mercenaries directed by Sudan", and that his forces were in "total control" of the city as well as the whole country.

Against this backdrop, in June 2005, a successful referendum was held to eliminate a two-term constitutional limit, which enabled Déby to run again in 2006. More than 77% of voters approved. Déby was a candidate in the 2006 presidential election, held 3 May, which was greeted with an opposition boycott. According to official results Déby won the election with 64.67% of the vote.

In 2000, with the north/south dispute quelled, Déby's government started building the country's first oil pipeline, the 1,070 kilometer Chad-Cameroon project. The pipeline was completed in 2003 and praised by the World Bank as "an unprecedented framework to transform oil wealth into direct benefits for the poor, the vulnerable and the environment".

Oil exploitation in the southern Doba region began in June 2000, with World Bank Board approval to finance a small portion of a project, the Chad-Cameroon Petroleum Development Project, aimed at transport of Chadian crude through a 1000-km buried pipeline through Cameroon to the Gulf of Guinea. The project established unique mechanisms for World Bank, private sector, government, and civil society collaboration to guarantee that future oil revenues benefit populations and result in poverty alleviation.

However, with Chad receiving only 12.5% of profits from oil production, and the agreement for these revenues to be deposited into a London-based Citibank escrow account monitored by an independent body to ensure the funds were used for public services and development, not much wealth was immediately transferred to the country. In 2006, Déby made international news after calling for his country to have a 60 percent stake in the Chad-Cameroon oil output after receiving "crumbs" from foreign companies running the industry. He said Chevron and Petronas were refusing to pay taxes totalling $486.2 million. Chad passed a World Bank-backed oil revenues law that required most of its oil revenue to be allocated to health, education and infrastructure projects. The World Bank had previously frozen an oil revenue account in a dispute over how Chad spent its oil profits, with Déby accused of using the funds to consolidate his power. Déby rejected those claims, arguing that the country does not receive nearly enough royalties to make meaningful change in the fight against poverty.

2010s

File:Idriss Deby Itno IMG 3725.jpg

Idriss Déby in 2012

On 25 April 2011, Déby was re-elected for a fourth term with 88.7% of the vote and reappointed Emmanuel Nadingar as Prime Minister.

Because of Chad's strategic position in West Africa, Idriss Déby sent troops or played a key mediating role in tackling the multiple regional crises, such as Darfur, the Central African Republic (CAR), Mali, as well as the fight against Boko Haram.

With the security situation in the Central African Republic deteriorating, Déby decided in 2012 to deploy 400 troops to fight the CAR rebels. In January 2013, Chad also sent 2000 troops to fight Islamist groups in Mali, as part of France's Operation Serval.

Chad’s recent history, under Déby's leadership, has been characterized by endemic corruption and a deeply entrenched patronage system that permeates society, according to Transparency International. The recent exploitation of oil has fueled corruption, as revenues have been misused by government to strengthen its armed forces and reward its cronies, which contributes to the undermining of the country’s governance system. In 2006, Chad was placed at the top of the list of the world's most corrupt nations by Forbes magazine, In 2012, Déby launched a nationwide anticorruption campaign called "Operation Cobra," which reportedly recovered some $50 million in embezzled funds. Nongovernmental organizations say, however, that Déby has used such initiatives to punish rivals and reward cronies. As of 2016, Transparency International ranked Chad 147 out of 168 nations on its corruption index.

Faced with a growing threat from Boko Haram, a terrorist group aligned to the Islamic State operating in northern Nigeria, Idriss Déby increases Chad's participation in the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF), a combined multinational formation comprising units from Niger, Nigeria, Benin and Cameroon. In August 2015, Déby claims in an interview that the MNJTF has successfully "decapitated" Boko Haram.

In January 2016, Idriss Déby succeeded Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe to become the chairman of the African Union for a one-year term. Upon his inauguration, Déby told presidents that conflicts around the continent had to end "Through diplomacy or by force... We must put an end to these tragedies of our time. We cannot make progress and talk of development if part or our body is sick. We should be the main actors in the search for solution to Africa's crises". One of Déby's first priorities was to accelerate the fight against Boko Haram. On 4 March, the African Union agreed to expand the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) to 10,000 troops.

During the 21st Conference of the Parties (COP21) in Paris, Idriss Déby raised the issue of Lake Chad, whose area was a small fraction of what it had been in 1973, and called on the international community to provide financing to protect the ecosystem.

In Fébruary 2016, Déby was nominated by the Patriotic Salvation Movement to run for a new term in the April 2016 Presidential elections. He pledged to reinstate term limits in the constitution by saying that "We must limit terms, we must not concentrate on a system in which a change in power becomes difficult. "In 2005 the constitutional reform was conducted in a context where life of the nation was in danger".

In 2017, the United States Justice Department alleged Déby accepted a $2 million bribe in return for providing a Chinese company with an opportunity to obtain oil rights in Chad without international competition.

In January 2019, Déby and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the resumption of diplomatic relations between Chad and Israel. Netanyahu described his visit to Chad as “part of the revolution we are having in the Arab and Muslim world.”

2020s

Déby signed a bill abolishing capital punishment in Chad in 2020. The firing squad had last been used on terrorists in 2015.

In February 2021, Déby announced Chad would send 1,200 soldiers alongside French troops to the Sahel border between Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso, to combat al-Qaeda linked groups.

In the 2021 Chadian presidential election, Déby won his sixth term as president, when results were announced on 19 April, with 79.32% of the votes. In February, security forces had attempted to arrest leader of the opposition Yaya Dillo Djérou, with Djéru claiming five members of his family were killed during this attempt, and the government instead reporting only three were killed. Most political opponents had withdrawn from the election, urging a boycott, alleging attacks and excessive use of force by security forces during anti-government protests. Instead of giving a victory speech, Déby went to visit the Chadian soldiers on the frontlines fighting the northern rebel incursion by the Front for Change and Concord in Chad (abbreviated FACT in French) He was said to have been mortally wounded on Sunday, 18 April, and was flown to the capital, where he died on 20 April.

Personal life

Déby was married several times and had at least a dozen children. He married Hinda (b. 1977) in September 2005. Reputed for her beauty, this marriage attracted much attention in Chad, and due to tribal affiliations it was seen by many as a strategic means for Déby to bolster his support while under pressure from rebels. Hinda is a member of the Civil Cabinet of the Presidency, serving as Special Secretary.

On 2 July 2007, Déby's son, Brahim, was found dead aged 27 in the parking garage of his apartment near Paris. According to the autopsy report, he had likely been asphyxiated by white powder from a fire extinguisher. A murder inquiry was launched by the French police. Brahim had been sacked as presidential advisor the year before, after being convicted of possessing drugs and weapons. Blogger Makaila Nguebla attributes the defection of many Chadian government leaders to their indignation over Brahim's conduct: "He is at the root of all the frustration. He used to slap government ministers, senior Chadian officials were humiliated by Déby's son." In July 2011 four men were convicted of "robbery leading to death without intention to kill" and sentenced to prison sentences of between five and thirteen years.

Death

According to an army spokesperson, Déby succumbed to injuries resulting from gunshots on 20 April 2021, while commanding his army against FACT rebels in the north of Chad during the Northern Chad offensive, at the age of 68. The Chadian Parliament was ultimately dissolved upon his death, and in its place, a Transitional Military Council was formed.

See also

• Heads of state of Chad

References

Political offices
Preceded by Hissène Habré	President of Chad 1990–present	Incumbent