Human rights organisation Amnesty International has called upon authorities in Chad to track down the whereabouts of Issa Palkoubou, an English teacher who has not been seen alive since September 3 2008. He taught English at the American Language Centre in Chad capital n’Djamena, and was abducted from the Centre by three men in plain clothes who forced him into a car. When security personnel at the Centre challenged the abductors, the men said nothing and refused to show any identification.

It is not clear why Issa Palkoubou was targeted for abduction. His enforced disappearance fits a pattern of similar cases where people not known to be members of any particular political party are abducted.

It is believed that Palkoubou may still be alive, and in the custody of Chadian security forces at an unknown location. He is at risk of torture and other ill-treatment, and of being killed. Mike Blackmore, UK Media Director of Amnesty has commented that it is not uncommon for people across Chad to be the ‘victims of enforced disappearances by the country’s security forces’. He describes it as a government tactic used commonly to spread fear among the general population and to intimidate political opponents. Amnesty’s main cause for concern is that those who have been detained by the forces tend to suffer torture and other ill-treatment.

Human rights defenders and relatives of the abducted man continue to inquire about his fate, but face obstruction and intimidation from the Chadian authorities. A family member was seriously intimidated when he went to the National Security Agency offices to inquire about Issa Palkoubou’s whereabouts after his abduction. He was allegedly seen in a security agency detention facility in N’djamena at the beginning of December 2008, where he appeared to be unwell.