US embassy cable - 05NDJAMENA1165

UNCLAS  NDJAMENA 001165 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR AF, AF/C, DRL, INR, LONDON AND PARIS FOR 
AFRICA-WATCHERS, AF/PD (DWHITMAN) 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, OIIP, KPAO, PHUM, CD, Human RIghts 
SUBJECT: PRESS FREEDOM AND THE BATTLE OF THE SPEECHES 
SENSITIVE 
REF: NDJAMENA 864, 946 
 
1.  (SBU) Summary:  The government of Chad has continued to 
harrass and imprison journalists, despite pressure from the 
United States, and outcry from the local and international 
press and groups like Reporters Without Borders.  Two 
journalists have been sentenced to three months and three 
years in prison, respectively.  Two others are now under 
threat of imprisonment.  The Ambassador's Independence Day 
speech received massive media coverage, as did the 14th of 
July speech given by the French Ambassador.  The general 
perception in the independent press is that the United 
States supports press freedoms, while France has clearly 
sided with the government of Chad in punishing what the 
government media views as irresponsible journalism. End 
Summary 
 
----------------- 
UPDATE ON ARRESTS 
----------------- 
 
2.  (SBU)  Al-Hadj Garond Djarma and Samory Ngaradoumb of 
the independent L'Observateur have both been sentence to 
prison terms. Ngaradoumb received a three-month sentence 
and must pay a 100,000 FCFA ($183.00 USD) fine.  Djarma 
received a three-year sentence and must pay 1,000,000 FCFA 
($1,830.00 USD). Both were charged with defamation and 
inciting racial hatred. A third journalist, Michael Didama 
of Le Temps, is awaiting his trial date of August 1.  The 
pro-government paper Le Progs reported on July 20 that a 
fourth journalist, Mrs. Sy Koumbo Singa Gali of 
L'Observateur, will also face prosecution for publishing an 
 an 
interview with Djarma in which he claimed that his arrest 
was "Jandjaweed trickery." 
 
-------------------------------------- 
MEDIA REACTION TO AMBASSADOR'S REMARKS 
-------------------------------------- 
 
3.  (SBU)  The Ambassador's Independence Day remarks 
received huge coverage in the press.  Public Affairs staff 
with years of experience cannot remember a speech that 
received so much attention.  The speech was reprinted in 
its entirety in three French-language papers and two 
Arabic-language papers.  At least four local radio stations 
played large excerpts of the speech, some with added 
commentary.  TeleTchad, the government-owned television 
station, also had a lengthy report that focused more on the 
event than the content of the speech.  Opinions on the 
speech were generally divided along pro-government and 
opposition lines.  The pro-government press chose to 
largely ignore the content of the speech, focusing instead 
on the Embassy's recent equipment donations to the press. 
The independent N'Djamena Bi-Hebdo published a large 
excerpt of the speech, then stating, "could one find a more 
severe criticism of the policies undertaken by the Deby 
regime?"  Commenting on France's role in Chad, Bi-Hebdo 
continued,  "the language of frankness and truth [in 
Ambassador Wall's speech] that should inform our relations 
has never come from the French authorities, who have 
instead encouraged () the autocrats of N'Djamena." 
 
 
-------------------------- 
FRENCH AMBASSADOR'S SPEECH 
-------------------------- 
 
4.  (SBU)  France's Ambassador to Chad Jean Pierre Bercot 
spoke to an audience of several hundred at the annual 
celebration of Bastille Day on July 14th.  More than half of 
the ten-minute speech was devoted to a discussion of the 
press.  Berot began by detailing the large amount of aid 
that France has given to the Chadian press (200 million 
FCFA, or $370,000.00 USD, over the last four years). 
Berot then explained at length exactly what type of free 
ee 
press France will support in Chad:  "Yes, France supports 
and will support an investigative press, and not a 
manipulative press that confuses facts and commentary.  Yes 
France supports and will support a free and independent 
press, and not a partisan press, allied with specific 
 
interest groups. Yes, France supports and will support a 
press that respects Chadian national dignity, and not a 
press that seeks to dirty, by any means, the external image 
of Chad and of Chadians." 
 
--------------------------------- 
PRESS REACTION TO BERCOT'S SPEECH 
--------------------------------- 
 
5.  (SBU)  Bercot's remarks were met with general outrage 
in the independent press, where they were viewed as 
supporting the government's campaign of harassment and 
arrest of journalists.  Bi-Hebdo called Bercot "a cold 
monster," while the headline of the July 21st issue of the 
independent Le Temps wonders whether he is an "ambassador 
or colonial governor."  In their by-line, Le Temps accuses 
the French ambassador of being "visibly jealous of the very 
lovely friendship that has developed between the U.S. 
Embassy and the Chadian press", accusing Bercot of 
transforming the Bastille day celebration into a "forum for 
organizing a trial of Chadian journalists based on 
assumptions rather than facts."  Surprisingly, even the 
pro-government Le Progrs printed a very balanced account 
of Bercot's speech, and included several opposition 
opinions in their analysis.  However, radio FM Liberte has 
received a letter from the High Council for Communications 
demanding that the station stop airing criticism of the 
French Ambassador's speech. 
 
 
------- 
COMMENT 
------- 
6.  (SBU)  The independent press seems to view the U.S. as 
one of their most ardent defenders during the recent spate 
of trials and arrests, especially since the Ambassador's 
Independence Day remarks coincided with a $60,000 USD 
equipment giveaway to the press  public and private. 
. 
Chadians are often quick to criticize their former colonial 
leaders, and they jumped on the chance to attack Bercot for 
his comments.  The French are normally viewed as pro-regime 
by the independent press, and Bercot's remarks have done 
much to strengthen this view.  The U.S., which is now seen 
as a strong friend of press freedoms in Chad, also risks 
being viewed as anti-regime or anti-Deby, both by the 
government and in the pro-government press. 
 
 
NNNN