Djeralar Miankeol
A human being is nothing if you take away the freedom to think and to act, if there is no justice in how you live your life or carry out your work, and if there is no respect for your basic human dignity.
Djeralar Miankeol is a human rights defender in Chad. He is the director of Ngaoubourandi, an organisation that works to defend the rights of small farmers and vegetable growers in the south of Chad. Ngaoubourandi works against land grabs, corruption in the petrol sector, and unlawful expropriation of farmers' land. It organises research projects, advocacy, round tables and conferences to highlight these issues. It has also developed a project to provide clean water to about 40,000 people and opened a small health centre.
Human rights defenders in Chad suffer from the culture of impunity, absence of rule of law and political instability that is prevalent throughout the country. The extreme political repression in Chad forms the backdrop to severe restrictions on freedom of expression. Defenders have reportedly been subjected to threats, harassment, stigmatization, physical assault, arbitrary arrests, incommunicado detention, judicial proceedings and ill-treatment and torture while in detention. Lawyers assisting victims of the former regime and journalists have been particularly targeted.
