demonstration on 5 April to demand the release of the four activists. He received a four-month suspended prison sentence. In mid-April, two human rights activists fled the country after receiving death threats via SMS and anonymous phone calls following their involvement in pre-election protests against the re-election of President Déby. On 17 November, 11 opposition activists were arrested during an unauthorized protest against the economic crisis and charged with taking part in an “unarmed gathering”. They were released on 7 December and the charges were dropped. EXCESSIVE USE OF FORCE Security forces used excessive or unnecessary force with impunity to disperse demonstrations in N’Djamena and other towns. In February and March, security forces violently dispersed several peaceful demonstrations across the country demanding justice for Zouhoura Ibrahim, a 16-year-old student raped on 8 February, allegedly by five young men with links to the authorities and security forces. On 15 February, police killed a 17-year-old student during a peaceful demonstration in N’Djamena, and on 22 February security forces shot dead a 15-year-old student and injured at least five others in the city of Faya Largeau. On 7 August, police used firearms to disperse a peaceful demonstration in N’Djamena against President Idriss Déby’s re-election, killing one young man and seriously injuring another. ARBITRARY ARRESTS AND DETENTIONS – JOURNALISTS Journalists continued to be intimidated and routinely subjected to arbitrary arrests and short-term detention for exercising their right to freedom of expression. On 28 May, a presenter on a national radio station was interrogated by agents of the Directorate of General Information after accidentally referring to the President as Amnesty International Report 2016/17 Hissène Habré instead of Idriss Déby while on air. He was released seven hours later and suspended from the show. On 30 August, Stéphane Mbaïrabé Ouaye, Director of Publication of Haut Parleur newspaper, was arrested, questioned by agents of the Directorate of General Information and charged with “attempted fraud and blackmail” following an interview with the Director of the Mother and Child Hospital in N’Djamena about allegations of corruption. He was tried and acquitted, and released on 22 September. On 9 September, Bemadjiel Saturnin, a reporter at Radio FM Liberté, was arrested while covering a protest, despite having his professional ID. He was questioned at the central police station and released four hours later. ENFORCED DISAPPEARANCES On 9 April, at least 64 soldiers were victims of enforced disappearance after refusing to vote for the incumbent President. Witnesses described how security forces identified soldiers who supported opposition candidates, ill-treated them at polling stations, abducted them, and tortured them at both recognized and unrecognized detention centres. Forty-nine of the soldiers were released, but the fate of the other 15 was still unclarified at the end of 2016. Following international pressure, the Public Prosecutor opened an investigation into the case of five of the soldiers, but the case was closed after their release. No investigation was undertaken into the allegations of torture and the other cases of disappearance. REFUGEES AND INTERNALLY DISPLACED PEOPLE More than 389,000 refugees from the Central African Republic, Nigeria and Sudan continued to live in poor conditions in refugee camps. As a result of attacks and threats by Boko Haram, and security operations by the Chadian military, 105,000 people were internally displaced and 12,000 returned from Nigeria and Niger to the Lake Chad 115