Key developments in 2025
President Mahamat Idriss Déby solidified his authority in 2025 after securing victory in the 2024 presidential election, widely criticized by opposition groups for alleged irregularities. Constitutional amendments passed in 2025 removed presidential term limits and extended each term from five to seven years, effectively allowing him to remain in power indefinitely as long as elections are held every seven years.
The political opposition faced severe restrictions. Succès Masra, opposition leader who challenged the 2024 election results, was arrested and sentenced to 20 years in prison. Activists, party members, and journalists aligned with Masra experienced intimidation, arrests, and legal harassment.
A contentious amnesty law shielded perpetrators of abuses linked to October 2022 protests from prosecution, effectively blocking justice for victims over the past three years.
Intercommunal violence persisted in southern and eastern regions, particularly between nomadic Fulani herders and sedentary farming communities, resulting in dozens of fatalities. Displacement from these clashes, compounded by the spillover from the conflict in neighboring Sudan, strained humanitarian response systems. Heavy flooding in late 2024 and early 2025—among the worst in the region—exacerbated food insecurity across Chad.
Progress on reparations for victims of abuses under former President Hissène Habré remained stalled in 2025, despite partial payments made in 2024, which fell far short of court-ordered compensation.
Surge in farmer-herder violence
Despite government claims of addressing root causes—such as unclear land tenure and undefined livestock migration routes—the frequency of violent clashes between Fulani herders and local farmers increased in 2025.
In May, in Mandakao, Logone Occidental Province, clashes erupted over disputed land boundaries between grazing and farmland. Authorities reported 41 deaths and six injuries. Media accounts described competing land claims: farmers accused herders of encroaching on cultivated land, while herders argued that unmarked borders forced them onto agricultural fields.
In June, violence erupted in Orégomel, Mayo-Kebbi Ouest Province, when disputes between herders and farmers escalated into machete attacks, killing at least 17 people, including women and children, and injuring several others. In mid-June, intertribal clashes in Molou, Ouaddaï Province, resulted in around 20 deaths and 16 injuries.
These incidents reflect a broader trend driven by population pressure, shrinking arable land, and climate-induced resource scarcity.
Political space under strain
On May 16, Succès Masra—former Prime Minister and leader of the opposition party Les Transformateurs—was arrested in N’Djamena on charges tied to the deadly intercommunal violence in Mandakao. He faced accusations of inciting hatred, xenophobia, and, through social media, complicity in murder. Alongside dozens of co-defendants, Masra pleaded not guilty. On August 9, he was convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison and fined 1 billion CFA francs (~$1.8 million). His co-defendants received similar 20-year sentences for related charges.
Masra’s politically motivated arrest and expedited trial effectively silenced opposition voices. His detention and conviction violated the Kinshasa Agreement of October 2023, which had suspended his arrest warrant and guaranteed his safe return from exile and freedom to engage in political activities.
Constitutional changes: power extended indefinitely
In September 2025, Chad’s National Assembly approved constitutional amendments extending presidential terms from five to seven years and eliminating term limits entirely, removing all constraints on executive power.
The vote passed with 171 votes in favor, one abstention, and no opposition, as most opposition members boycotted the session. The reforms were approved by both chambers and signed into law by the president in October, centralizing power in Mahamat Idriss Déby’s hands and weakening legislative oversight and democratic checks.
Political violence, dissent, and repression
Calls for investigations into the security forces’ celebratory gunfire following Mahamat Idriss Déby’s 2024 election victory went unanswered in 2025. No perpetrators were held accountable, and victims—including at least 11 killed and multiple injured, some children—received no reparations or legal recourse. In late 2024, security forces raided the headquarters of opposition leader Yaya Dillo’s party before the presidential election; Dillo was killed in the operation. By 2025, no inquiry had been conducted into his death.
In December 2024, authorities released 24 relatives of Yaya Dillo who had been held in the high-security prison of Koro Toro. Ten others had been acquitted in July 2024. In June, Robert Gam, leader of Dillo’s party (Parti socialiste sans frontières), was freed after eight months in detention without charge. Additionally, in September, the Ministry of Territorial Administration revoked the citizenship of blogger Makaila Nguebla and activist-journalist Charfadine Galmaye Saleh—both in exile—further shrinking civic space.
In March, journalists Olivier Monodji and Mahamat Saleh Alhissein were detained on charges of espionage, conspiracy, and endangering state security, allegedly linked to reporting on the Wagner Group. Their prolonged detention without trial violated international standards on arbitrary detention. They were released in July.
LGBTQ+ rights and criminalization
Under Article 354 of the 2017 Penal Code, same-sex relations are criminalized. Convicted individuals face up to two years in prison and fines ranging from 50,000 to 500,000 CFA francs (~$75–$750).