Chad: 44 prisoners die overnight due to hot overcrowded cell

A group of 44 prisoners died in one night in a prison in Chad because they were all kept in the same cell in 46C heat, an investigation has concluded, according to a news report by Business Ghana.

Prosecutors had suggested that the group were suspected Boko Haram militants and had taken poison to kill themselves.

But the National Human Rights Commission has said that they were civilians.

Their report described a dangerously overcrowded cell, scorching heat, thirst, and hunger.

Chad's Justice Minister Djimet Arabi has said that he had taken note of the Commission's report and that an inquiry had been launched to determine who was responsible for the deaths.

The 44 prisoners were found dead in their cell on the outskirts of the capital N'Djamena on the morning of 15 April.

Prosecutors said at the time that the men were part of a group of 58 suspects captured during a major army operation against the Islamist militants Boko Haram around Lake Chad.

The public prosecutor said 40 of the prisoners were buried and four were taken to a pathologist who found traces of poison.

Djimet Arabi had also suggested that it could have been a case of collective suicide and denied they had been ill-treated.

"Prisoners pleas for help ignored," The independent commission's report said.

Firstly, it disputes they were militants, instead of saying they were farmers and villagers who were arbitrarily arrested.

It also points out that the army operation against Boko Haram - which ran between 23 March and 8 April - was already over when the suspects were picked up.

It then described the overcrowded, scorching conditions in the cell, where survivors say the only food they were given was a few dates, not enough to go around the group.

The 14 survivors told the commission that, in the heat, some started falling to the ground, while others called out to the guards for help but were ignored.