AA / Dakar / Alioune Ndiaye
François Mancabou, one of the 11 members supposed to operate under the name of “Special Force” and arrested following the banned opposition march of June 17, died at the Principal Hospital of Dakar (HPD).
Mancabou is the only one of the group not to have faced the judge following their arrest. He was transferred to hospital on June 25 for treatment following serious injuries he allegedly suffered while in police custody at the Sûreté urbaine de Dakar.
The death notice published by the services of the HPD mentions an “accidental death” which occurred on Wednesday at 10:40 p.m.
According to members of his family, Mancabou was savagely tortured while in police custody.
Members of civil society have displayed their indignation following the detainee’s disappearance while demanding light.
“We demand that all light be shed on the circumstances of his death and especially on what may have happened to the urban security of Dakar where he was detained”, reacted Seydi Gassama of Amnesty International on Facebook.
“Torture is prohibited in all circumstances and if the medical file and the autopsy reveal that he was tortured, the torturers and the State of Senegal will be held accountable,” he warned.
“An independent investigation and a serious autopsy are imperative to determine the causes of Mancabou’s death,” said Birahim Seck of the Civil Forum.
This is the second twist in this case, known as the ”Special Force”.
Indeed, the prison administration announced on Monday the escape of one of the members, Pape Mamadou Seck, who had been transferred to the special pavilion of Le Dantec hospital for treatment.
The members of the ”Special Force” group had been placed under arrest warrant on June 29 for, among other things, conspiracy against the authority of the State, acts likely to cause serious disturbances to public order, association of criminals with a terrorist enterprise, possession and transport of incendiary products and substances with a view to the commission of acts in connection with a terrorist enterprise.
More than a hundred people were arrested during this forbidden march organized as a protest against the partial rejection of the list of the opposition coalition Yewwi Askan Wi for the legislative elections on July 31st.
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