| CHAD Republic of Chad Republique du Tchad/Jumhuriyat Tshad Joined United Nations: 20 September 1960 Human Rights as assured by their constitution Click here Updated 04/27/10 |
| CAPITAL |
| POPULATION |
| CHIEF OF STATE |
| SELECTION PROCESS |
N'Djamena
10,329,208 (July 2009 est.)
Lt. Gen. Idriss Deby Itno
President since 4 December 1990
President since 4 December 1990
President elected by popular vote to serve five-year term; if no
candidate receives at least 50% of the total vote, the two
candidates receiving the most votes must stand for a second round
of voting; last held 3 May 2006
Next scheduled election: May 2011
candidate receives at least 50% of the total vote, the two
candidates receiving the most votes must stand for a second round
of voting; last held 3 May 2006
Next scheduled election: May 2011
HEAD OF GOVERNMENT
SELECTION PROCESS
Emmanuel Nadingar
Prime Minister since 05 March 2010
Prime Minister since 05 March 2010
Prime Minister appointed by the president
| DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS |
| ETHNIC GROUPS |
Sara 27.7%, Arab 12.3%, Mayo-Kebbi 11.5%, Kanem-Bornou 9%, Ouaddai 8.7%, Hadjarai 6.7%, Tandjile 6.5%, Gorane
6.3%, Fitri-Batha 4.7%, other 6.4%, unknown 0.3% (1993 census)
6.3%, Fitri-Batha 4.7%, other 6.4%, unknown 0.3% (1993 census)
| RELIGIONS |
Muslim 53.1%, Catholic 20.1%, Protestant 14.2%, animist 7.3%, other 0.5%, unknown 1.7%, atheist 3.1% (1993 census)
| GOVERNMENT STRUCTURE |
Republic comprised of 14 prefectures (prefectures, singular - prefecture); Legal system is based on French civil law system
and Chadian customary law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Executive: President elected by popular vote to serve five-year term; if no candidate receives at least 50% of the total vote,
the two candidates receiving the most votes must stand for a second round of voting; last held 3 May 2006 (next to be held by
May 2011); prime minister appointed by the president
Legislative: Unicameral National Assembly or Assemblee Nationale (111 seats; members are elected by popular vote to
serve five-year terms)
National Assembly - last held 21 April 2002 (next to be held by 28 November 2010)
Judicial: Supreme Court; Court of Appeal; Criminal Courts; Magistrate Courts
and Chadian customary law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Executive: President elected by popular vote to serve five-year term; if no candidate receives at least 50% of the total vote,
the two candidates receiving the most votes must stand for a second round of voting; last held 3 May 2006 (next to be held by
May 2011); prime minister appointed by the president
Legislative: Unicameral National Assembly or Assemblee Nationale (111 seats; members are elected by popular vote to
serve five-year terms)
National Assembly - last held 21 April 2002 (next to be held by 28 November 2010)
Judicial: Supreme Court; Court of Appeal; Criminal Courts; Magistrate Courts
| LANGUAGES |
French (official), Arabic (official), Sara (in south), more than 120 different languages and dialects
| BRIEF HISTORY |
| ECONOMIC OVERVIEW |
Chad's primarily agricultural economy will continue to be boosted by major foreign direct investment projects in the oil sector
that began in 2000. At least 80% of Chad's population relies on subsistence farming and livestock raising for its livelihood.
Chad's economy has long been handicapped by its landlocked position, high energy costs, and a history of instability. Chad
relies on foreign assistance and foreign capital for most public and private sector investment projects. A consortium led by two
US companies has been investing $3.7 billion to develop oil reserves - estimated at 1 billion barrels - in southern Chad.
Chinese companies are also expanding exploration efforts and are currently building a 300-km pipleline and the country's first
refinery. The nation's total oil reserves are estimated at 1.5 billion barrels. Oil production came on stream in late 2003. Chad
began to export oil in 2004. Cotton, cattle, and gum arabic provide the bulk of Chad's non-oil export earnings.
that began in 2000. At least 80% of Chad's population relies on subsistence farming and livestock raising for its livelihood.
Chad's economy has long been handicapped by its landlocked position, high energy costs, and a history of instability. Chad
relies on foreign assistance and foreign capital for most public and private sector investment projects. A consortium led by two
US companies has been investing $3.7 billion to develop oil reserves - estimated at 1 billion barrels - in southern Chad.
Chinese companies are also expanding exploration efforts and are currently building a 300-km pipleline and the country's first
refinery. The nation's total oil reserves are estimated at 1.5 billion barrels. Oil production came on stream in late 2003. Chad
began to export oil in 2004. Cotton, cattle, and gum arabic provide the bulk of Chad's non-oil export earnings.
| POLITICAL CLIMATE |
A strong executive branch headed by President Idriss Déby dominates the Chadian political system. Following his military
overthrow of Hissène Habré in December 1990, Déby won presidential elections in 1996 and 2001. The constitutional basis
for the government is the 1996 constitution, under which the president was limited to two terms of office until Déby had that
provision repealed in 2005. The president has the power to appoint the prime minister and the Council of State (or cabinet),
and exercises considerable influence over appointments of judges, generals, provincial officials and heads of Chad’s parastatal
firms. In cases of grave and immediate threat, the president, in consultation with the National Assembly President and Council
of State, may declare a state of emergency. Most of the Déby's key advisors are members of the Zaghawa clan, although some
southern and opposition personalities are represented in his government.
According to the 1996 constitution, the National Assembly deputies are elected by universal suffrage for 4-year terms.
Parliamentary elections are scheduled for spring 2002. The Assembly holds regular sessions twice a year, starting in March
and October, and can hold special sessions as necessary and called by the prime minister. Deputies elect a president of the
National Assembly every 2 years. Assembly deputies or members of the executive branch may introduce legislation; once
passed by the Assembly, the president must take action to either sign or reject the law within 15 days. The National Assembly
must approve the prime minister’s plan of government and may force the prime minister to resign through a majority vote of no-
confidence. However, if the National Assembly rejects the executive branch’s program twice in one year, the president may
disband the Assembly and call for new legislative elections. In practice, the president exercises considerable influence over the
National Assembly through the MPS party structure.
Source: Wikipedia: Politics of Chad
overthrow of Hissène Habré in December 1990, Déby won presidential elections in 1996 and 2001. The constitutional basis
for the government is the 1996 constitution, under which the president was limited to two terms of office until Déby had that
provision repealed in 2005. The president has the power to appoint the prime minister and the Council of State (or cabinet),
and exercises considerable influence over appointments of judges, generals, provincial officials and heads of Chad’s parastatal
firms. In cases of grave and immediate threat, the president, in consultation with the National Assembly President and Council
of State, may declare a state of emergency. Most of the Déby's key advisors are members of the Zaghawa clan, although some
southern and opposition personalities are represented in his government.
According to the 1996 constitution, the National Assembly deputies are elected by universal suffrage for 4-year terms.
Parliamentary elections are scheduled for spring 2002. The Assembly holds regular sessions twice a year, starting in March
and October, and can hold special sessions as necessary and called by the prime minister. Deputies elect a president of the
National Assembly every 2 years. Assembly deputies or members of the executive branch may introduce legislation; once
passed by the Assembly, the president must take action to either sign or reject the law within 15 days. The National Assembly
must approve the prime minister’s plan of government and may force the prime minister to resign through a majority vote of no-
confidence. However, if the National Assembly rejects the executive branch’s program twice in one year, the president may
disband the Assembly and call for new legislative elections. In practice, the president exercises considerable influence over the
National Assembly through the MPS party structure.
Source: Wikipedia: Politics of Chad
| INTERNATIONAL DISPUTES |
Since 2003, Janjaweed armed militia and the Sudanese military have driven hundreds of thousands of Darfur residents into
Chad; Chad remains an important mediator in the Sudanese civil conflict, reducing tensions with Sudan arising from
cross-border banditry; Chadian Aozou rebels reside in southern Libya; only Nigeria and Cameroon have heeded the Lake
Chad Commission's admonition to ratify the delimitation treaty, which also includes the Chad-Niger and Niger-Nigeria
boundaries
Chad; Chad remains an important mediator in the Sudanese civil conflict, reducing tensions with Sudan arising from
cross-border banditry; Chadian Aozou rebels reside in southern Libya; only Nigeria and Cameroon have heeded the Lake
Chad Commission's admonition to ratify the delimitation treaty, which also includes the Chad-Niger and Niger-Nigeria
boundaries
| REFUGEES AND INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSONS (IDP) |
Refugees (country of origin): 234,000 (Sudan); 54,200 (Central African Republic)
IDPs: 178,918 (2007)
IDPs: 178,918 (2007)
| ILLICIT DRUGS |
None reported.
| HUMAN RIGHTS STATEMENTS, ANALYSIS AND CRITIQUES |
2009 Human Rights Report: Chad
Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor
2009 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices
March 11, 2010
Chad is a centralized republic with a population of approximately 10 million. In 2006 President Idriss Deby Itno, leader of the
Patriotic Salvation Movement (MPS), was elected to a third term in what unofficial observers characterized as an orderly but
seriously flawed election boycotted by the opposition. Deby has ruled the country since taking power in a 1990 coup. Political
power remained concentrated in the hands of a northern oligarchy composed of the president's Zaghawa ethnic group and its allies.
The executive branch dominated the legislature and judiciary. In May rebels crossed from Sudan into the east of the country and
mounted an attack. On July 26, one of the main rebel factions, the National Movement (NM), signed a peace accord with the
government. The government supported Sudanese rebels. Violent interethnic conflict and cross-border raids by Darfur-based
militias continued, but on a smaller scale than in previous years. Banditry was a severe problem. An estimated 168,000 internally
displaced persons (IDPs) remained in the country. Approximately 253,000 Sudanese refugees who had fled from violence in Darfur
lived in camps along the border, and about 70,000 refugees from the neighboring Central African Republic (CAR) lived in the south.
Civilian authorities did not maintain effective control of the security forces.
Human rights abuses included:
Rebel groups, ethnic-based militias, Darfur-based militias, and bandits committed numerous human rights abuses. These abuses
included killing, abducting, injuring, and raping civilians; use of child soldiers; and attacks against humanitarian workers.
Click here to read more »
Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor
2009 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices
March 11, 2010
Chad is a centralized republic with a population of approximately 10 million. In 2006 President Idriss Deby Itno, leader of the
Patriotic Salvation Movement (MPS), was elected to a third term in what unofficial observers characterized as an orderly but
seriously flawed election boycotted by the opposition. Deby has ruled the country since taking power in a 1990 coup. Political
power remained concentrated in the hands of a northern oligarchy composed of the president's Zaghawa ethnic group and its allies.
The executive branch dominated the legislature and judiciary. In May rebels crossed from Sudan into the east of the country and
mounted an attack. On July 26, one of the main rebel factions, the National Movement (NM), signed a peace accord with the
government. The government supported Sudanese rebels. Violent interethnic conflict and cross-border raids by Darfur-based
militias continued, but on a smaller scale than in previous years. Banditry was a severe problem. An estimated 168,000 internally
displaced persons (IDPs) remained in the country. Approximately 253,000 Sudanese refugees who had fled from violence in Darfur
lived in camps along the border, and about 70,000 refugees from the neighboring Central African Republic (CAR) lived in the south.
Civilian authorities did not maintain effective control of the security forces.
Human rights abuses included:
- limitation of citizens' right to change their government;
- extrajudicial killings;
- politically motivated disappearances;
- torture, beatings, and rape by security forces;
- security force impunity;
- harsh and life-threatening prison conditions;
- arbitrary arrest and detention;
- incommunicado detention;
- lengthy pretrial detention;
- denial of fair public trial;
- executive interference in the judiciary;
- arbitrary interference with privacy, family, and correspondence;
- use of excessive force and other abuses in internal conflict, including killings and use of child soldiers;
- limits on freedom of speech, press, and assembly;
- widespread official corruption;
- obstruction of the work of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs);
- violence and societal discrimination against women, including the widespread practice of female genital mutilation (FGM);
- child abuse, abduction, and trafficking;
- ethnic-based discrimination;
- repression of union activity;
- forced labor;
- exploitive child labor.
Rebel groups, ethnic-based militias, Darfur-based militias, and bandits committed numerous human rights abuses. These abuses
included killing, abducting, injuring, and raping civilians; use of child soldiers; and attacks against humanitarian workers.
Click here to read more »
22 December 2009
Human Rights Council
Thirteenth session
Agenda item 3
Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to
development
Report of the Representative of the Secretary-General on the human rights of internally displaced persons, Walter
Kälin*
Mission to the Republic of Chad
Summary
The Representative of the Secretary-General on the human rights of internally displaced persons, Walter Kälin, carried out an
official mission to the Republic of Chad, at the invitation of the authorities, from 3 to 9 February 2009.
On conclusion of that mission the Representative finds that there is currently a grave crisis in the Republic of Chad with regard to
protection, characterized by the precarious situation in which displaced persons live and the general insecurity that prevails in the
east of the country. The Representative is convinced that, without an effective domestic peace process in Chad that brings the
Government, the political opposition and representatives of the various Chadian communities and armed opposition groups together
in political dialogue, and so long as the various communities have not been reconciled and a much stronger State presence aimed at
ending impunity has not been re-established, the situation in the east of the country could deteriorate at any time, leading to new
waves of displacement. Settlement of the conflict in Darfur would likewise contribute greatly to stabilizing the situation in eastern
Chad. The Representative would also like to underscore that no peace process in Chad can have a lasting effect unless lasting
solutions are found to the situation of displaced persons.
Between December 2005 and the end of 2007, large numbers of people in eastern Chad were displaced, mainly on account of
attacks across the border from Darfur, in particular by the Janjaweed militia against non-Arab Chadian communities. Sporadic
movements also occurred during 2008. Furthermore, tensions between different communities, exacerbated by competition for
access to limited resources, such as water, pasture land, firewood and arable land, and by increased banditry and clashes between
the country’s armed forces and armed Chadian opposition groups implicated in the events of February 2008, have displaced many
Chadians from their villages in the region bordering the Sudan. There are currently about 160,000 internally displaced Chadians.
The Dar Sila and Ouaddaï regions in the east have been particularly affected. The Representative notes that a number of people
displaced from Assoungha and Dar Sila have spontaneously decided to return to their villages despite an uncertain security situation
and the lack of access to basic services in their home communities.
The Representative is particularly concerned by the absence of effective State institutions in eastern Chad, which would facilitate
the peaceful settlement of intercommunity conflicts, and the prosecution of criminals and would combat banditry and the
proliferation of arms. That weak institutional framework, which leads to near total impunity, is a major reason why most displaced
persons spend long periods of time in displacement sites. The problem is further exacerbated by the almost complete lack of basic
State services, in particular in such areas as health, water and education, in both displacement sites and places of origin.
Click here to read more »
Human Rights Council
Thirteenth session
Agenda item 3
Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to
development
Report of the Representative of the Secretary-General on the human rights of internally displaced persons, Walter
Kälin*
Mission to the Republic of Chad
Summary
The Representative of the Secretary-General on the human rights of internally displaced persons, Walter Kälin, carried out an
official mission to the Republic of Chad, at the invitation of the authorities, from 3 to 9 February 2009.
On conclusion of that mission the Representative finds that there is currently a grave crisis in the Republic of Chad with regard to
protection, characterized by the precarious situation in which displaced persons live and the general insecurity that prevails in the
east of the country. The Representative is convinced that, without an effective domestic peace process in Chad that brings the
Government, the political opposition and representatives of the various Chadian communities and armed opposition groups together
in political dialogue, and so long as the various communities have not been reconciled and a much stronger State presence aimed at
ending impunity has not been re-established, the situation in the east of the country could deteriorate at any time, leading to new
waves of displacement. Settlement of the conflict in Darfur would likewise contribute greatly to stabilizing the situation in eastern
Chad. The Representative would also like to underscore that no peace process in Chad can have a lasting effect unless lasting
solutions are found to the situation of displaced persons.
Between December 2005 and the end of 2007, large numbers of people in eastern Chad were displaced, mainly on account of
attacks across the border from Darfur, in particular by the Janjaweed militia against non-Arab Chadian communities. Sporadic
movements also occurred during 2008. Furthermore, tensions between different communities, exacerbated by competition for
access to limited resources, such as water, pasture land, firewood and arable land, and by increased banditry and clashes between
the country’s armed forces and armed Chadian opposition groups implicated in the events of February 2008, have displaced many
Chadians from their villages in the region bordering the Sudan. There are currently about 160,000 internally displaced Chadians.
The Dar Sila and Ouaddaï regions in the east have been particularly affected. The Representative notes that a number of people
displaced from Assoungha and Dar Sila have spontaneously decided to return to their villages despite an uncertain security situation
and the lack of access to basic services in their home communities.
The Representative is particularly concerned by the absence of effective State institutions in eastern Chad, which would facilitate
the peaceful settlement of intercommunity conflicts, and the prosecution of criminals and would combat banditry and the
proliferation of arms. That weak institutional framework, which leads to near total impunity, is a major reason why most displaced
persons spend long periods of time in displacement sites. The problem is further exacerbated by the almost complete lack of basic
State services, in particular in such areas as health, water and education, in both displacement sites and places of origin.
Click here to read more »
FREEDOM IN THE WORLD REPORT- 2009
Political Rights Score: 7
Civil Liberties Score: 6
Status: Not Free
Overview
In early February 2008, a coalition of three rebel groups attacked the capital, prompting the government to impose a state of
emergency and arrest top opposition politicians. Clashes broke out again in eastern Chad in April, June, and August, and tensions
remained high at year’s end. The insecurity forced many humanitarian organizations to cease operations, and as many as 180,000
Chadians were internally displaced during the year. Chad was also home to some 250,000 refugees from Sudan and 50,000 from
the Central African Republic.
On February 2 and 3, 2008, a 2,000-strong coalition of the UFDD, the RFC, and the UFDD-Fundamental—a recently-formed
UFDD splinter group—attacked the capital. Deby’s regime responded harshly, beginning with the February 3 arrests of three
prominent opposition politicians—Lol Mahamat Choua, Ngarjely Yorongar, and Ibni Oumar Mahamat Saleh. The government and
rebels agreed to a ceasefire several days later, and by February 11, the rebels had begun to withdraw to the east. Deby nonetheless
declared a state of emergency between February 14 and March 15, on top of a countrywide curfew imposed after the clashes. The
new order suspended due process rights and tightened already harsh media restrictions.
Human rights groups accused the regime of extrajudicial detention and killing of suspected rebels, their supporters, and members of
the Goran ethnic group, some of whom were involved in the coup attempt. As many as 135 rebels were captured during the attack,
including juveniles; there was no information on the whereabouts of these detainees by the end of the year, according to the U.S.
State Department’s 2008 human rights report. Amid international condemnation of the opposition arrests, Choua was released from
custody on February 14 and placed under house arrest on February 26. Yorongar was released on February 21 and ultimately
received asylum in France. It was revealed in September that Saleh had died shortly after arrest. The state of emergency was lifted
on March 15.
In April, a reorganized coalition of rebels known as the National Alliance (NA) and headed by UFDD leader Mahamat Nouri began a
new series of attacks in the east. It struck several eastern towns in June, causing the Office of the UN High Commissioner for
Refugees (UNHCR) to temporarily suspend operations in the area. Further clashes broke out in mid-August.
A government committee established at the behest of French president Nicolas Sarkozy to investigate the February coup attempt
and aftermath concluded in September that the violence had killed roughly 1,000 people and injured as many as 2,000. Meanwhile,
insecurity in the region continued to displace thousands of civilians. By October, as many as 180,000 Chadians were internally
displaced, and there were also some 250,000 Sudanese refugees and 50,000 CAR refugees in Chad.
Deby and Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir continued to trade accusations in 2008 that one was supporting rebels on the other’s
territory. Despite a May 2007 agreement intended to stop cross-border raids, al-Bashir cut diplomatic ties with Chad in May 2008
following a rebel attack on Khartoum that al-Bashir accused Deby of supporting. The two leaders met again in July, when al-Bashir
agreed to restore ties.
In January 2008, a French court sentenced six French nationals from the relief organization Zoe’s Ark to eight years in prison for
attempting to send 103 supposed Darfuri orphans to France via Chad in 2007. The six had been arrested in Chad in October 2007
and sentenced to eight years of hard labor in December, but they had then been returned to France. Separately during the year,
preparations continued in Senegal for the trial of Habre, who lived in exile in Senegal but was charged in Belgium in 2005 with
crimes against humanity dating to his presidency. Senegal’s parliament amended the constitution in April 2008 to allow the national
courts to hear cases of past human rights abuses.
Chad remains mired in poverty despite oil revenues expected to total $1.4 billion in 2008. In September 2008, the World Bank
withdrew from a project launched in 2001 in which the bank financed development of the oil sector and Chad agreed to invest the
revenue in poverty-alleviation projects. The Chadian government had repeatedly sought greater control over revenues, and the bank
suspended loans for half of 2006 due to breaches of the agreement.
Click here to read more »
Political Rights Score: 7
Civil Liberties Score: 6
Status: Not Free
Overview
In early February 2008, a coalition of three rebel groups attacked the capital, prompting the government to impose a state of
emergency and arrest top opposition politicians. Clashes broke out again in eastern Chad in April, June, and August, and tensions
remained high at year’s end. The insecurity forced many humanitarian organizations to cease operations, and as many as 180,000
Chadians were internally displaced during the year. Chad was also home to some 250,000 refugees from Sudan and 50,000 from
the Central African Republic.
On February 2 and 3, 2008, a 2,000-strong coalition of the UFDD, the RFC, and the UFDD-Fundamental—a recently-formed
UFDD splinter group—attacked the capital. Deby’s regime responded harshly, beginning with the February 3 arrests of three
prominent opposition politicians—Lol Mahamat Choua, Ngarjely Yorongar, and Ibni Oumar Mahamat Saleh. The government and
rebels agreed to a ceasefire several days later, and by February 11, the rebels had begun to withdraw to the east. Deby nonetheless
declared a state of emergency between February 14 and March 15, on top of a countrywide curfew imposed after the clashes. The
new order suspended due process rights and tightened already harsh media restrictions.
Human rights groups accused the regime of extrajudicial detention and killing of suspected rebels, their supporters, and members of
the Goran ethnic group, some of whom were involved in the coup attempt. As many as 135 rebels were captured during the attack,
including juveniles; there was no information on the whereabouts of these detainees by the end of the year, according to the U.S.
State Department’s 2008 human rights report. Amid international condemnation of the opposition arrests, Choua was released from
custody on February 14 and placed under house arrest on February 26. Yorongar was released on February 21 and ultimately
received asylum in France. It was revealed in September that Saleh had died shortly after arrest. The state of emergency was lifted
on March 15.
In April, a reorganized coalition of rebels known as the National Alliance (NA) and headed by UFDD leader Mahamat Nouri began a
new series of attacks in the east. It struck several eastern towns in June, causing the Office of the UN High Commissioner for
Refugees (UNHCR) to temporarily suspend operations in the area. Further clashes broke out in mid-August.
A government committee established at the behest of French president Nicolas Sarkozy to investigate the February coup attempt
and aftermath concluded in September that the violence had killed roughly 1,000 people and injured as many as 2,000. Meanwhile,
insecurity in the region continued to displace thousands of civilians. By October, as many as 180,000 Chadians were internally
displaced, and there were also some 250,000 Sudanese refugees and 50,000 CAR refugees in Chad.
Deby and Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir continued to trade accusations in 2008 that one was supporting rebels on the other’s
territory. Despite a May 2007 agreement intended to stop cross-border raids, al-Bashir cut diplomatic ties with Chad in May 2008
following a rebel attack on Khartoum that al-Bashir accused Deby of supporting. The two leaders met again in July, when al-Bashir
agreed to restore ties.
In January 2008, a French court sentenced six French nationals from the relief organization Zoe’s Ark to eight years in prison for
attempting to send 103 supposed Darfuri orphans to France via Chad in 2007. The six had been arrested in Chad in October 2007
and sentenced to eight years of hard labor in December, but they had then been returned to France. Separately during the year,
preparations continued in Senegal for the trial of Habre, who lived in exile in Senegal but was charged in Belgium in 2005 with
crimes against humanity dating to his presidency. Senegal’s parliament amended the constitution in April 2008 to allow the national
courts to hear cases of past human rights abuses.
Chad remains mired in poverty despite oil revenues expected to total $1.4 billion in 2008. In September 2008, the World Bank
withdrew from a project launched in 2001 in which the bank financed development of the oil sector and Chad agreed to invest the
revenue in poverty-alleviation projects. The Chadian government had repeatedly sought greater control over revenues, and the bank
suspended loans for half of 2006 due to breaches of the agreement.
Click here to read more »
12 March 2010
Chad: UN Security Council must work to ensure further extension of UN Mission mandate
The United Nations (UN) Security Council has renewed today the mandate of the United Nations Mission in the Central African
Republic and Chad (MINURCAT) for two months, until 15 May 2010. This is a minor achievement that would allow MINURCAT
to remain in Eastern Chad while further negotiations about the withdrawal of the Mission – as requested by the Chadian government
- take place.
While welcoming the temporary reprieve for MINURCAT, Amnesty International is concerned that such a short extension leaves
the mission in a tenuous and uncertain state, meaning increased vulnerability for refugees, displaced persons and the civilian
population in both Chad and the Central African Republic. Upcoming negotiations must focus on securing agreement for a longer-
range extension of the mission, not on facilitating an early withdrawal. As such, Amnesty International is calling on the Security
Council to work closely with Chadian authorities to ensure that the UN Mission is able to continue to fulfil its mandate in eastern
Chad and the Central African Republic well beyond 15 May 2010 specifically in terms of protection of the civilian population.
Amnesty International has been calling on all members of the UN Security Council not to accede to the demand of Chadian
authorities that MINURCAT leave the country until the benchmarks that were called for by the Security Council are met. The
organization has also called on the government of Chad to reverse its position that MINURCAT must leave the country.
Instead of discussing MINURCAT’s withdrawal, actors should focus on addressing the many protection problems that still exist,
including widespread violence against both refugee women from Darfur and Chadian women. If MINURCAT is forced to
withdraw, the level of violence, insecurity and grave human rights violations in Eastern Chad and northern Central African Republic
will almost certainly increase substantially. Even with recent improvements, conditions in eastern Chad remain precarious for the
hundreds of thousands of Sudanese refugees and displaced Chadians who are living there in camps. A premature UN exit will
expose them to further human rights abuses.
Amnesty International is also concerned that the short-term nature of the current extension of MINURCAT’s mandate not serve to
in any way impede or undermine the mission’s current operations. The organization is calling on MINURCAT to retain operations at
the level necessary to provide protection to the population in eastern Chad and to continue to pursue measures needed to strengthen
human rights protection on the ground. Amnesty International is also calling on the government of Chad to fully cooperate with
MINURCAT, to facilitate the mission’s work.
Amnesty International is further concerned about the worrying precedent that would be set if MINURCAT were to be forced to
withdraw before the benchmarks established by the UN have been met. In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) the
government has requested a complete MONUC withdrawal by June 2011 thus putting the safety of its own population at grave risk.
Amnesty International has appealed to the DRC government to reconsider its request and instead discuss with the UN and other
international interlocutors how to overcome the many protection challenges that remain, especially in the war-torn east of the
country.
Click here to read more »
Chad: UN Security Council must work to ensure further extension of UN Mission mandate
The United Nations (UN) Security Council has renewed today the mandate of the United Nations Mission in the Central African
Republic and Chad (MINURCAT) for two months, until 15 May 2010. This is a minor achievement that would allow MINURCAT
to remain in Eastern Chad while further negotiations about the withdrawal of the Mission – as requested by the Chadian government
- take place.
While welcoming the temporary reprieve for MINURCAT, Amnesty International is concerned that such a short extension leaves
the mission in a tenuous and uncertain state, meaning increased vulnerability for refugees, displaced persons and the civilian
population in both Chad and the Central African Republic. Upcoming negotiations must focus on securing agreement for a longer-
range extension of the mission, not on facilitating an early withdrawal. As such, Amnesty International is calling on the Security
Council to work closely with Chadian authorities to ensure that the UN Mission is able to continue to fulfil its mandate in eastern
Chad and the Central African Republic well beyond 15 May 2010 specifically in terms of protection of the civilian population.
Amnesty International has been calling on all members of the UN Security Council not to accede to the demand of Chadian
authorities that MINURCAT leave the country until the benchmarks that were called for by the Security Council are met. The
organization has also called on the government of Chad to reverse its position that MINURCAT must leave the country.
Instead of discussing MINURCAT’s withdrawal, actors should focus on addressing the many protection problems that still exist,
including widespread violence against both refugee women from Darfur and Chadian women. If MINURCAT is forced to
withdraw, the level of violence, insecurity and grave human rights violations in Eastern Chad and northern Central African Republic
will almost certainly increase substantially. Even with recent improvements, conditions in eastern Chad remain precarious for the
hundreds of thousands of Sudanese refugees and displaced Chadians who are living there in camps. A premature UN exit will
expose them to further human rights abuses.
Amnesty International is also concerned that the short-term nature of the current extension of MINURCAT’s mandate not serve to
in any way impede or undermine the mission’s current operations. The organization is calling on MINURCAT to retain operations at
the level necessary to provide protection to the population in eastern Chad and to continue to pursue measures needed to strengthen
human rights protection on the ground. Amnesty International is also calling on the government of Chad to fully cooperate with
MINURCAT, to facilitate the mission’s work.
Amnesty International is further concerned about the worrying precedent that would be set if MINURCAT were to be forced to
withdraw before the benchmarks established by the UN have been met. In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) the
government has requested a complete MONUC withdrawal by June 2011 thus putting the safety of its own population at grave risk.
Amnesty International has appealed to the DRC government to reconsider its request and instead discuss with the UN and other
international interlocutors how to overcome the many protection challenges that remain, especially in the war-torn east of the
country.
Click here to read more »
Chad: Inside a Dictator's Secret Police
by Reed Brody
Published in: Foreign Policy
March 9, 2010
For the two decades that he has been free, Souleymane Guengueng has constantly relived the two years he spent in a Chadian
prison, where he watched hundreds of cellmates die from torture and disease. Thrown in jail in 1988 for still-unknown reasons, the
deeply religious civil servant took an oath before God: If he ever got out alive, he would bring his tormentors to justice. So when
the country's dictator fell in a 1990 coup and Guengueng walked out of prison, he used his considerable charm to persuade
still-frightened victims to form an association and start preparing a case against their aggressor. But Chad's new government
brought back many of the old henchmen and allowed the former tyrant -- Hissène Habré -- to live in quiet luxury in Senegal.
Now, 20 years later, Habré is finally facing trial in Senegal on charges of mass murder and torture. As a lawyer for Human Rights
Watch, I've been involved for more than a decade with the case against him, which is based in large part on Guengueng's work
compiling countless testimonies and an archive of police torture that I accidentally found in Chad's capital, N'Djamena, in 2002. It
will be the first trial by the courts of one country against the former head of state of another. That is, if it actually takes place.
Senegalese stalling tactics, including its $40 million budget request, are holding up the trial -- and until that changes, Souleymane
Guengueng won't be the only Chadian still trapped in his country's brutal past.
Back in 1981, it would have been hard to imagine Habré where he is today. U.S. President Ronald Reagan saw the then-warlord as
a bulwark against the ambitions of Libya's Muammar al-Qaddafi, Chad's expansionist neighbor to the north. Habré had already
earned a reputation for extreme brutality, once kidnapping a French anthropologist and then murdering the officer sent to negotiate
her release. But Washington could not pass up a chance to "bloody Qaddafi's nose," as Secretary of State Alexander Haig reportedly
put it, and Habré's march on N'Djamena in 1982 was buoyed by generous covert U.S. support. Once he took over, the United
States provided Habré with massive military aid and used a clandestine base in Chad to train captured Libyan soldiers as members
of an anti-Qaddafi force. Habré served Washington's purpose; when the Libyans moved into northern Chad in the 1980s, Habré
swiftly kicked them out. But Habré also turned his country into a police state, the legacy of which still lingers today under the
current Chadian president, the man who ousted Habré, Idriss Déby.
When Habré was overthrown, he fled to Senegal, and at first, there seemed to be little hope of a reckoning for his crimes. But the
1998 London arrest of former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet buoyed the hopes of Chadian activists, including Guengueng.
They asked Human Rights Watch, which participated in the Pinochet case, to assist Habré's victims. Eager to extend the "Pinochet
precedent" to other tyrants, we helped Guengueng file charges against Habré in Senegal in January 2000, and a Dakar judge soon
placed the former dictator under house arrest.
Click here to read more »
by Reed Brody
Published in: Foreign Policy
March 9, 2010
For the two decades that he has been free, Souleymane Guengueng has constantly relived the two years he spent in a Chadian
prison, where he watched hundreds of cellmates die from torture and disease. Thrown in jail in 1988 for still-unknown reasons, the
deeply religious civil servant took an oath before God: If he ever got out alive, he would bring his tormentors to justice. So when
the country's dictator fell in a 1990 coup and Guengueng walked out of prison, he used his considerable charm to persuade
still-frightened victims to form an association and start preparing a case against their aggressor. But Chad's new government
brought back many of the old henchmen and allowed the former tyrant -- Hissène Habré -- to live in quiet luxury in Senegal.
Now, 20 years later, Habré is finally facing trial in Senegal on charges of mass murder and torture. As a lawyer for Human Rights
Watch, I've been involved for more than a decade with the case against him, which is based in large part on Guengueng's work
compiling countless testimonies and an archive of police torture that I accidentally found in Chad's capital, N'Djamena, in 2002. It
will be the first trial by the courts of one country against the former head of state of another. That is, if it actually takes place.
Senegalese stalling tactics, including its $40 million budget request, are holding up the trial -- and until that changes, Souleymane
Guengueng won't be the only Chadian still trapped in his country's brutal past.
Back in 1981, it would have been hard to imagine Habré where he is today. U.S. President Ronald Reagan saw the then-warlord as
a bulwark against the ambitions of Libya's Muammar al-Qaddafi, Chad's expansionist neighbor to the north. Habré had already
earned a reputation for extreme brutality, once kidnapping a French anthropologist and then murdering the officer sent to negotiate
her release. But Washington could not pass up a chance to "bloody Qaddafi's nose," as Secretary of State Alexander Haig reportedly
put it, and Habré's march on N'Djamena in 1982 was buoyed by generous covert U.S. support. Once he took over, the United
States provided Habré with massive military aid and used a clandestine base in Chad to train captured Libyan soldiers as members
of an anti-Qaddafi force. Habré served Washington's purpose; when the Libyans moved into northern Chad in the 1980s, Habré
swiftly kicked them out. But Habré also turned his country into a police state, the legacy of which still lingers today under the
current Chadian president, the man who ousted Habré, Idriss Déby.
When Habré was overthrown, he fled to Senegal, and at first, there seemed to be little hope of a reckoning for his crimes. But the
1998 London arrest of former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet buoyed the hopes of Chadian activists, including Guengueng.
They asked Human Rights Watch, which participated in the Pinochet case, to assist Habré's victims. Eager to extend the "Pinochet
precedent" to other tyrants, we helped Guengueng file charges against Habré in Senegal in January 2000, and a Dakar judge soon
placed the former dictator under house arrest.
Click here to read more »
Sudan’s Bashir and Chad’s Deby vow to work for peace and stability
Wednesday 10 February 2010
President Omer Al-Bashir and his Chadian counterpart Idriss Deby vowed today to work for peace and regional stability pledging to
intervene personally to contain any tension in the future between the two countries.
Amid international and regional plaudits for the "historic visit" by the Chadian President to Sudan, Deby ended his two days visit in
Khartoum offering to work together with Bashir to end the Darfur conflict and calling on the Chadian opposition to return to their
country.
Chadian President Idriss Deby addressed a call to the Sudanese rebels to lay down their arms and to stop hostilities in order to reach a
comprehensive solution for Darfur conflict. He also expressed his support to the Doha venue saying "Doha is a perfect place" to
resolve Darfur conflict. "Chad stands with these efforts without reservation," he added.
He also called on Khartoum to soften its position and encourage dialogue with rebels to achieve peace in the troubled region.
The Chadian President appealed on the Chadian rebel groups harbored by the Sudanese government in the restive Darfur region to
participate in the legislative election to be held in November this year challenging them to "win power through the ballot box not with
bullets".
However Deby seemed as if he had received some guaranties from the Sudanese president over their support to the rebels. After his
return to Ndjamena he told Chadians who gathered to welcome him that "Peace is restored between the peoples of Sudan and Chad.
Peace, stability and serenity gradually but quickly will return to our eastern border".
Sudan Darfur region particularly, in the past has been a refuge for Chadian rebels. President Deby himself was once one of a group of
rebels who took control of Ndjamena from Darfur. Now due to the same tribal factor that brought the Chadian rebels to Sudan,
Darfur rebels have their presence in Chad.
Normalization between Khartoum and Ndjamena would contribute to creating a suitable atmosphere for lasting peace in Darfur but
would not be sufficient to end the conflict in western Sudan.
Click here to read more »
Wednesday 10 February 2010
President Omer Al-Bashir and his Chadian counterpart Idriss Deby vowed today to work for peace and regional stability pledging to
intervene personally to contain any tension in the future between the two countries.
Amid international and regional plaudits for the "historic visit" by the Chadian President to Sudan, Deby ended his two days visit in
Khartoum offering to work together with Bashir to end the Darfur conflict and calling on the Chadian opposition to return to their
country.
Chadian President Idriss Deby addressed a call to the Sudanese rebels to lay down their arms and to stop hostilities in order to reach a
comprehensive solution for Darfur conflict. He also expressed his support to the Doha venue saying "Doha is a perfect place" to
resolve Darfur conflict. "Chad stands with these efforts without reservation," he added.
He also called on Khartoum to soften its position and encourage dialogue with rebels to achieve peace in the troubled region.
The Chadian President appealed on the Chadian rebel groups harbored by the Sudanese government in the restive Darfur region to
participate in the legislative election to be held in November this year challenging them to "win power through the ballot box not with
bullets".
However Deby seemed as if he had received some guaranties from the Sudanese president over their support to the rebels. After his
return to Ndjamena he told Chadians who gathered to welcome him that "Peace is restored between the peoples of Sudan and Chad.
Peace, stability and serenity gradually but quickly will return to our eastern border".
Sudan Darfur region particularly, in the past has been a refuge for Chadian rebels. President Deby himself was once one of a group of
rebels who took control of Ndjamena from Darfur. Now due to the same tribal factor that brought the Chadian rebels to Sudan,
Darfur rebels have their presence in Chad.
Normalization between Khartoum and Ndjamena would contribute to creating a suitable atmosphere for lasting peace in Darfur but
would not be sufficient to end the conflict in western Sudan.
Click here to read more »
January 29, 2010
State Violence in Chad
(Dakar, January 29, 2010) – A new study shows that Hissène Habré, the former dictator of Chad, was well-informed of the
hundreds of deaths in prisons operated by his political police, a coalition of human rights organizations said today. The
announcement came on the eve of the 10th anniversary of his indictment in Senegal.
The study by the Human Rights Data Analysis Group (HRDAG) is based on thousands of documents generated by the
Documentation and Security Directorate (DDS) – the state security force that pursued opponents and operated notorious prisons
during the Habré regime. The files were discovered by chance by Human Rights Watch in 2001 at the abandoned Security
Directorate's headquarters in N'Djamena, the Chadian capital.
"The evidence shows that Habré was not a distant ruler who knew nothing about these crimes," said Jacqueline Moudeina,
president of the Chadian Association for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights, who is also a lawyer for the victims. "Habré
directed and controlled the police force, which tortured those who opposed him or who simply belonged to the wrong ethnic
group."
This information could be critical in the long-delayed prosecution of Habré, who has been accused of killing and systematically
torturing thousands of political opponents during his rule in Chad, from 1982 to 1990, the groups said. The announcement came
from the Chadian Association for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (ATPDH), the Chadian Association of Victims of
Political Repression and Crime (AVCRP), the Chadian League for Human Rights, the African Assembly for the Defense of Human
Rights (RADDHO-Senegal), the National Organization for Human Rights (ONDH-Senegal), Human Rights Watch (HRW), the
International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH), and Agir Ensemble pour les Droits de l'Homme.
Habré was first indicted on February 3, 2000 by a Senegalese judge, but the charges were thrown out on a technicality. In 2006,
Senegal agreed to an African Union (AU) mandate to prosecute Habré, but it has refused to act until it receives €27.4 million from
the international community, its estimate of the cost of the trial.
"It's been 10 years since Senegal first indicted Habré, but in these 10 years, thousands of my fellow survivors have perished and
we are no closer to Habré's trial," said Souleymane Guengueng, 59, who almost died of dengue fever during two years of
mistreatment in Chadian prisons. "Unless Senegal acts soon, there won't be any victims left at the trial."
The analysis of prison documents reveals that there was a direct superior-subordinate relationship between Habré and his appointed
Security Directorate leadership and that Habré was well-informed of its operations. This analysis shows that Habré received 1,265
direct communications from the agency about the status of 898 detainees. A total of 12,321 victims are mentioned in the
documents, including 1,208 who died in detention.
Click here to read more »
State Violence in Chad
(Dakar, January 29, 2010) – A new study shows that Hissène Habré, the former dictator of Chad, was well-informed of the
hundreds of deaths in prisons operated by his political police, a coalition of human rights organizations said today. The
announcement came on the eve of the 10th anniversary of his indictment in Senegal.
The study by the Human Rights Data Analysis Group (HRDAG) is based on thousands of documents generated by the
Documentation and Security Directorate (DDS) – the state security force that pursued opponents and operated notorious prisons
during the Habré regime. The files were discovered by chance by Human Rights Watch in 2001 at the abandoned Security
Directorate's headquarters in N'Djamena, the Chadian capital.
"The evidence shows that Habré was not a distant ruler who knew nothing about these crimes," said Jacqueline Moudeina,
president of the Chadian Association for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights, who is also a lawyer for the victims. "Habré
directed and controlled the police force, which tortured those who opposed him or who simply belonged to the wrong ethnic
group."
This information could be critical in the long-delayed prosecution of Habré, who has been accused of killing and systematically
torturing thousands of political opponents during his rule in Chad, from 1982 to 1990, the groups said. The announcement came
from the Chadian Association for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (ATPDH), the Chadian Association of Victims of
Political Repression and Crime (AVCRP), the Chadian League for Human Rights, the African Assembly for the Defense of Human
Rights (RADDHO-Senegal), the National Organization for Human Rights (ONDH-Senegal), Human Rights Watch (HRW), the
International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH), and Agir Ensemble pour les Droits de l'Homme.
Habré was first indicted on February 3, 2000 by a Senegalese judge, but the charges were thrown out on a technicality. In 2006,
Senegal agreed to an African Union (AU) mandate to prosecute Habré, but it has refused to act until it receives €27.4 million from
the international community, its estimate of the cost of the trial.
"It's been 10 years since Senegal first indicted Habré, but in these 10 years, thousands of my fellow survivors have perished and
we are no closer to Habré's trial," said Souleymane Guengueng, 59, who almost died of dengue fever during two years of
mistreatment in Chadian prisons. "Unless Senegal acts soon, there won't be any victims left at the trial."
The analysis of prison documents reveals that there was a direct superior-subordinate relationship between Habré and his appointed
Security Directorate leadership and that Habré was well-informed of its operations. This analysis shows that Habré received 1,265
direct communications from the agency about the status of 898 detainees. A total of 12,321 victims are mentioned in the
documents, including 1,208 who died in detention.
Click here to read more »
TRANSLATED FROM FRENCH BY GOOGLE TRANSLATE
Chad: The League of Human Rights condemned the assassination of a traditional leader
Mustapha Abba Ngolo
April 5, 2010
Did Chad - In a press release published on March 30 in N'Djamena, the Chadian League of Human Rights (LTDH) has informed the
national and international community's assassination by elements Fadoul Barcham Chadian National Army (ANT).
Indeed, the statement said, Fadoul Barcham, district chief of Haraz Hémad Mangueigne in Salamat region (South Eastern Chad)
was in the crosshairs of some Army officials since the events of April 13, 2006. Period during which "he was arrested, tortured
and detained in a secret place of detention for six months before being released," informs the LTDH.
Four years later, more precisely in March 2010, these same soldiers reoffend. This time, say the activists of human rights, "under
the pretext of illegal possession of weapons of war, these soldiers went to take him for a second time at his home in Haraz
Mangueigne. They were bound and she has suffered inhuman, humiliating and degrading followed by excruciating torture for a
month. He fell into the hands of these soldiers Tuesday, March 23, 2010 on the axis Haraz Mangueigne - Am-Timan (capital of the
Salamat region).
Faced with this gross violation of human rights, LTDH expressed outrage and concern at the fate that was reserved for the chief of
the district by "senior members of the TAA, moreover, are expected to uphold and protect safety of persons and their property.
The statement also indicates that the deplore this LTDH inhumane behavior reflecting a bygone age and violates the fundamental
rights and freedoms of citizens.
Furthermore, the statement said, LTDH questioned the government to work harder than ever to ensure that "the perpetrators of this
despicable crime and will be sought and made available to the courts." Prior to indicate that it is regrettable that this act occurs at
the end of the National Forum of Human Rights held in N'Djamena from 9 to 11 March 2010. Moreover, according to the
manifesto of the organization of human rights, "murder by torture of the canton chief Hémad League is unacceptable and calls on
authorities especially the ministries of National Defence, Interior and Justice to get involved in this matter so that light be shed on
this heinous killing does not honor the Chadian Government and undermines democracy, rule of law and all efforts by the state to
promote and defend human rights. "
Click here to read more>>
Chad: The League of Human Rights condemned the assassination of a traditional leader
Mustapha Abba Ngolo
April 5, 2010
Did Chad - In a press release published on March 30 in N'Djamena, the Chadian League of Human Rights (LTDH) has informed the
national and international community's assassination by elements Fadoul Barcham Chadian National Army (ANT).
Indeed, the statement said, Fadoul Barcham, district chief of Haraz Hémad Mangueigne in Salamat region (South Eastern Chad)
was in the crosshairs of some Army officials since the events of April 13, 2006. Period during which "he was arrested, tortured
and detained in a secret place of detention for six months before being released," informs the LTDH.
Four years later, more precisely in March 2010, these same soldiers reoffend. This time, say the activists of human rights, "under
the pretext of illegal possession of weapons of war, these soldiers went to take him for a second time at his home in Haraz
Mangueigne. They were bound and she has suffered inhuman, humiliating and degrading followed by excruciating torture for a
month. He fell into the hands of these soldiers Tuesday, March 23, 2010 on the axis Haraz Mangueigne - Am-Timan (capital of the
Salamat region).
Faced with this gross violation of human rights, LTDH expressed outrage and concern at the fate that was reserved for the chief of
the district by "senior members of the TAA, moreover, are expected to uphold and protect safety of persons and their property.
The statement also indicates that the deplore this LTDH inhumane behavior reflecting a bygone age and violates the fundamental
rights and freedoms of citizens.
Furthermore, the statement said, LTDH questioned the government to work harder than ever to ensure that "the perpetrators of this
despicable crime and will be sought and made available to the courts." Prior to indicate that it is regrettable that this act occurs at
the end of the National Forum of Human Rights held in N'Djamena from 9 to 11 March 2010. Moreover, according to the
manifesto of the organization of human rights, "murder by torture of the canton chief Hémad League is unacceptable and calls on
authorities especially the ministries of National Defence, Interior and Justice to get involved in this matter so that light be shed on
this heinous killing does not honor the Chadian Government and undermines democracy, rule of law and all efforts by the state to
promote and defend human rights. "
Click here to read more>>
The territory now known as Chad possesses some of the richest archaeological sites in Africa. A possibly hominid skull has
been found in 2002 in Borkou that is more than 7 million years old, and in 1996 a 3 million years old hominid jaw. During
the 7th millennium BC, the northern half of Chad was part of a broad expanse of land, stretching from the Indus River in the
east to the Atlantic Ocean in the west, in which ecological conditions favored early human settlement. Rock art of the
"Round Head" style, found in the Ennedi region, has been dated to before the 7th millennium BC and, because of the tools
with which the rocks were carved and the scenes they depict, may represent the oldest evidence in the Sahara of Neolithic
industries. Many of the pottery-making and Neolithic activities in Ennedi date back further than any of those of the Nile
Valley to the east. In the prehistoric period, Chad was much wetter than it is today, as evidenced by large game animals
depicted in rock paintings in the Tibesti and Borkou regions. Recent linguistic research suggests that all of Africa's languages
south of the Sahara Desert (except Khoisan) originated in prehistoric times in a narrow band between Lake Chad and the
Nile Valley. The origins of Chad's peoples, however, remain unclear. Several of the proven archaeological sites have been
only partially studied, and other sites of great potential have yet to be mapped. Toward the end of the 1st millennium AD,
the formation of states does not begin across central Chad in the sahelian zone between the desert and the savanna. For
almost the next 1.000 years, these states, their relations with each other, and their effects on the peoples who lived in
"stateless" societies along their peripheries dominated Chad's political history. Recent research suggests that indigenous
Africans founded most of these states, not migrating Arabic-speaking groups, as was believed previously. Nonetheless,
immigrants, Arabic-speaking or otherwise, played a significant role, along with Islam, in the formation and early evolution.
Most states began as kingdoms, in which the king was considered divine and endowed with temporal and spiritual powers.
All states were militaristic (or they did not survive long), but none was able to expand far into southern Chad, where forests
and the tsetse fly complicated the use of cavalry. Control over the trans-Saharan trade routes that passed through the region
formed the economic basis of these kingdoms. Although many states rose and fell, the most important and durable of the
empires were Kanem-Bornu, Baguirmi, and Ouaddai, according to most written sources (mainly court chronicles and
writings of Arab traders and travelers). The Kanem Empire originated in the 9th century AD to the northeast of Lake Chad.
Historians agree that the leaders of the new state were ancestors of the Kanembu people. Toward the end of the 11th
century the Sayfawa king (or mai, the title of the Sayfawa rulers) Hummay, converted to Islam. In the following century the
Sayfawa rulers expanded southward into Kanem, where was to rise their first capital, Njimi. Kanem's expansion peaked
during the long and energetic reign of Mai Dunama Dabbalemi (c. 1221–1259). By the end of the fourteenth century,
internal struggles and external attacks had torn Kanem apart. Finally, around 1396 the Bulala invaders forced Mai Umar
Idrismi to abandon Njimi and move the Kanembu people to Bornu on the western edge of Lake Chad. Over time, the
intermarriage of the Kanembu and Bornu peoples created a new people and language, the Kanuri, and founded a new
capital, Ngazargamu. In addition to Kanem-Bornu, two other states in the region, Baguirmi and Ouaddai, achieved historical
prominence. Baguirmi emerged to the southeast of Kanem-Bornu in the sixteenth century. Islam was adopted, and the state
became a sultanate. Absorbed into Kanem-Bornu, Baguirmi broke free later in the 1600s, only to be returned to tributary
status in the mid-1700s. Located northeast of Baguirmi, Ouaddai was a non-Muslim kingdom that emerged in the 16th
century as an offshoot of the state of Darfur (in present-day Sudan). Early in the 17th century, groups in the region rallied to
Abd al-Karim, who overthrew the ruling Tunjur group, transforming Ouaddai in an Islamic sultanate. During much of the
18th century, Ouaddai resisted reincorporation into Darfur. The French first penetrated Chad in 1891, establishing their
authority through military expeditions primarily against the Muslim kingdoms. The decisive colonial battle for Chad was
fought on April 22, 1900 at Kousséri between the French Major Lamy and the Sudanese warlord Rabih az-Zubayr, both of
whom were killed in the battle. In 1905, administrative responsibility for Chad was placed under a governor-general
stationed at Brazzaville, capital of French Equatorial Africa (AEF). Chad did not have a separate colonial status until 1920,
when it was placed under a lieutenant-governor stationed in Fort-Lamy (today N'Djamena). During World War II, Chad
was the first French colony to rejoin the Allies (August 26, 1940), after the defeat of France by Germany. Under the
administration of Félix Éboué, France's first black colonial governor, a military column, commanded by Colonel Leclerc, and
including two battalions of Sara troops, moved north from N'Djamena (then Fort Lamy) to engage Axis forces in Libya,
where, in partnership with the British Army's Long Range Desert Group, they captured Kufra. After the war ended local
parties started to develop in Chad. After a referendum on territorial autonomy (September 28, 1958), French Equatorial
Africa was dissolved, and its four constituent states – Gabon, Congo (Brazzaville), the Central African Republic, and Chad
became autonomous members of the French Community (November 28, 1958). On August 11, 1960, Chad became an
independent nation under its first president, François Tombalbaye. One of the most prominent aspects of Tombalbaye's rule
to prove itself was his authoritarianism and distrust of democracy. Already in January 1962 he banned all political parties
except his own PPT, and started immediately concentrating all power in his own hands. His treatment of opponents, real or
imagined, was extremely harsh, filling the prisons with thousands of political prisoners. The coup d'état that terminated
Tombalbaye's government received an enthusiastic response in N'Djamena. The southerner General Félix Malloum emerged
early as the chairman of the new junta. Internal dissent within the government led Prime Minister Habré to send his forces
against Malloum's national army in the capital in February 1979. Malloum was ousted from the presidency, but the resulting
civil war amongst the 11 emergent factions was so widespread that it rendered the central government largely irrelevant.
Libya's partial withdrawal to the Aozou Strip in northern Chad cleared the way for Habré's forces to enter N’Djamena in
June. French troops and an OAU peacekeeping force of 3,500 Nigerian, Senegalese, and Zairian troops (partially funded
by the United States) remained neutral during the conflict.A cease-fire between Chad and Libya held from 1987 to 1988,
and negotiations over the next several years led to the 1994 International Court of Justice decision granting Chad
sovereignty over the Aouzou strip, effectively ending Libyan occupation. However, rivalry between Hadjerai, Zaghawa and
Gorane groups within the government grew in the late 1980s. In April 1989, Idriss Déby, one of Habré's leading generals
and a Zaghawa, defected and fled to Darfur in Sudan, from which he mounted a Zaghawa-supported series of attacks on
Habré (a Gorane). In December 1990, with Libyan assistance and no opposition from French troops stationed in Chad,
Déby’s forces successfully marched on N’Djamena. After 3 months of provisional government, Déby’s Patriotic Salvation
Movement (MPS) approved a national charter on February 28, 1991, with Déby as president. In 2003, Chad began
receiving refugees from the Darfur region of western Sudan. More than 200,000 refugees fled the fighting between two rebel
groups and government-supported militias known as Janjaweed. A number of border incidents led to the Chadian-Sudanese
War which began 23 December 2005. An attack on N'Djamena was defeated on April 13, 2006 in the Battle of
N'Djamena. The President on national radio stated that the situation was under control, but residents, diplomats and
journalists reportedly heard shots of weapons fire. On November 25, 2006, rebels captured the eastern town of Abeche,
capital of Ouaddaï Department and center for humanitarian aid to the Darfur region in Sudan. On the same day, a separate
rebel group Rally of Democratic Forces had captured Biltine. On November 26, 2006, the Chadian government claimed to
have recaptured both towns, although rebels still claimed control of Biltine.On Friday, February 1, 2008, rebels, an
opposition alliance of leaders Mahamat Nouri, a former defense minister, and Timane Erdimi, a nephew of Idriss Déby who
was his chief of staff, attacked the Chadian capital of Ndjamena - even surrounding the Presidential Palace. But Idris Deby
with government troops fought back. French forces flew in ammunition for Chadian government troops but took no active
part in the fighting. UN has said that up to 20,000 people left the region, taking refuge in nearby Cameroon and Nigeria.
Hundreds of people were killed, mostly civilians.
Sources: Wikipedia History of Chad
been found in 2002 in Borkou that is more than 7 million years old, and in 1996 a 3 million years old hominid jaw. During
the 7th millennium BC, the northern half of Chad was part of a broad expanse of land, stretching from the Indus River in the
east to the Atlantic Ocean in the west, in which ecological conditions favored early human settlement. Rock art of the
"Round Head" style, found in the Ennedi region, has been dated to before the 7th millennium BC and, because of the tools
with which the rocks were carved and the scenes they depict, may represent the oldest evidence in the Sahara of Neolithic
industries. Many of the pottery-making and Neolithic activities in Ennedi date back further than any of those of the Nile
Valley to the east. In the prehistoric period, Chad was much wetter than it is today, as evidenced by large game animals
depicted in rock paintings in the Tibesti and Borkou regions. Recent linguistic research suggests that all of Africa's languages
south of the Sahara Desert (except Khoisan) originated in prehistoric times in a narrow band between Lake Chad and the
Nile Valley. The origins of Chad's peoples, however, remain unclear. Several of the proven archaeological sites have been
only partially studied, and other sites of great potential have yet to be mapped. Toward the end of the 1st millennium AD,
the formation of states does not begin across central Chad in the sahelian zone between the desert and the savanna. For
almost the next 1.000 years, these states, their relations with each other, and their effects on the peoples who lived in
"stateless" societies along their peripheries dominated Chad's political history. Recent research suggests that indigenous
Africans founded most of these states, not migrating Arabic-speaking groups, as was believed previously. Nonetheless,
immigrants, Arabic-speaking or otherwise, played a significant role, along with Islam, in the formation and early evolution.
Most states began as kingdoms, in which the king was considered divine and endowed with temporal and spiritual powers.
All states were militaristic (or they did not survive long), but none was able to expand far into southern Chad, where forests
and the tsetse fly complicated the use of cavalry. Control over the trans-Saharan trade routes that passed through the region
formed the economic basis of these kingdoms. Although many states rose and fell, the most important and durable of the
empires were Kanem-Bornu, Baguirmi, and Ouaddai, according to most written sources (mainly court chronicles and
writings of Arab traders and travelers). The Kanem Empire originated in the 9th century AD to the northeast of Lake Chad.
Historians agree that the leaders of the new state were ancestors of the Kanembu people. Toward the end of the 11th
century the Sayfawa king (or mai, the title of the Sayfawa rulers) Hummay, converted to Islam. In the following century the
Sayfawa rulers expanded southward into Kanem, where was to rise their first capital, Njimi. Kanem's expansion peaked
during the long and energetic reign of Mai Dunama Dabbalemi (c. 1221–1259). By the end of the fourteenth century,
internal struggles and external attacks had torn Kanem apart. Finally, around 1396 the Bulala invaders forced Mai Umar
Idrismi to abandon Njimi and move the Kanembu people to Bornu on the western edge of Lake Chad. Over time, the
intermarriage of the Kanembu and Bornu peoples created a new people and language, the Kanuri, and founded a new
capital, Ngazargamu. In addition to Kanem-Bornu, two other states in the region, Baguirmi and Ouaddai, achieved historical
prominence. Baguirmi emerged to the southeast of Kanem-Bornu in the sixteenth century. Islam was adopted, and the state
became a sultanate. Absorbed into Kanem-Bornu, Baguirmi broke free later in the 1600s, only to be returned to tributary
status in the mid-1700s. Located northeast of Baguirmi, Ouaddai was a non-Muslim kingdom that emerged in the 16th
century as an offshoot of the state of Darfur (in present-day Sudan). Early in the 17th century, groups in the region rallied to
Abd al-Karim, who overthrew the ruling Tunjur group, transforming Ouaddai in an Islamic sultanate. During much of the
18th century, Ouaddai resisted reincorporation into Darfur. The French first penetrated Chad in 1891, establishing their
authority through military expeditions primarily against the Muslim kingdoms. The decisive colonial battle for Chad was
fought on April 22, 1900 at Kousséri between the French Major Lamy and the Sudanese warlord Rabih az-Zubayr, both of
whom were killed in the battle. In 1905, administrative responsibility for Chad was placed under a governor-general
stationed at Brazzaville, capital of French Equatorial Africa (AEF). Chad did not have a separate colonial status until 1920,
when it was placed under a lieutenant-governor stationed in Fort-Lamy (today N'Djamena). During World War II, Chad
was the first French colony to rejoin the Allies (August 26, 1940), after the defeat of France by Germany. Under the
administration of Félix Éboué, France's first black colonial governor, a military column, commanded by Colonel Leclerc, and
including two battalions of Sara troops, moved north from N'Djamena (then Fort Lamy) to engage Axis forces in Libya,
where, in partnership with the British Army's Long Range Desert Group, they captured Kufra. After the war ended local
parties started to develop in Chad. After a referendum on territorial autonomy (September 28, 1958), French Equatorial
Africa was dissolved, and its four constituent states – Gabon, Congo (Brazzaville), the Central African Republic, and Chad
became autonomous members of the French Community (November 28, 1958). On August 11, 1960, Chad became an
independent nation under its first president, François Tombalbaye. One of the most prominent aspects of Tombalbaye's rule
to prove itself was his authoritarianism and distrust of democracy. Already in January 1962 he banned all political parties
except his own PPT, and started immediately concentrating all power in his own hands. His treatment of opponents, real or
imagined, was extremely harsh, filling the prisons with thousands of political prisoners. The coup d'état that terminated
Tombalbaye's government received an enthusiastic response in N'Djamena. The southerner General Félix Malloum emerged
early as the chairman of the new junta. Internal dissent within the government led Prime Minister Habré to send his forces
against Malloum's national army in the capital in February 1979. Malloum was ousted from the presidency, but the resulting
civil war amongst the 11 emergent factions was so widespread that it rendered the central government largely irrelevant.
Libya's partial withdrawal to the Aozou Strip in northern Chad cleared the way for Habré's forces to enter N’Djamena in
June. French troops and an OAU peacekeeping force of 3,500 Nigerian, Senegalese, and Zairian troops (partially funded
by the United States) remained neutral during the conflict.A cease-fire between Chad and Libya held from 1987 to 1988,
and negotiations over the next several years led to the 1994 International Court of Justice decision granting Chad
sovereignty over the Aouzou strip, effectively ending Libyan occupation. However, rivalry between Hadjerai, Zaghawa and
Gorane groups within the government grew in the late 1980s. In April 1989, Idriss Déby, one of Habré's leading generals
and a Zaghawa, defected and fled to Darfur in Sudan, from which he mounted a Zaghawa-supported series of attacks on
Habré (a Gorane). In December 1990, with Libyan assistance and no opposition from French troops stationed in Chad,
Déby’s forces successfully marched on N’Djamena. After 3 months of provisional government, Déby’s Patriotic Salvation
Movement (MPS) approved a national charter on February 28, 1991, with Déby as president. In 2003, Chad began
receiving refugees from the Darfur region of western Sudan. More than 200,000 refugees fled the fighting between two rebel
groups and government-supported militias known as Janjaweed. A number of border incidents led to the Chadian-Sudanese
War which began 23 December 2005. An attack on N'Djamena was defeated on April 13, 2006 in the Battle of
N'Djamena. The President on national radio stated that the situation was under control, but residents, diplomats and
journalists reportedly heard shots of weapons fire. On November 25, 2006, rebels captured the eastern town of Abeche,
capital of Ouaddaï Department and center for humanitarian aid to the Darfur region in Sudan. On the same day, a separate
rebel group Rally of Democratic Forces had captured Biltine. On November 26, 2006, the Chadian government claimed to
have recaptured both towns, although rebels still claimed control of Biltine.On Friday, February 1, 2008, rebels, an
opposition alliance of leaders Mahamat Nouri, a former defense minister, and Timane Erdimi, a nephew of Idriss Déby who
was his chief of staff, attacked the Chadian capital of Ndjamena - even surrounding the Presidential Palace. But Idris Deby
with government troops fought back. French forces flew in ammunition for Chadian government troops but took no active
part in the fighting. UN has said that up to 20,000 people left the region, taking refuge in nearby Cameroon and Nigeria.
Hundreds of people were killed, mostly civilians.
Sources: Wikipedia History of Chad
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Click on flag for Country Report
| TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS |
Current situation: Chad is a source, transit, and destination country for children trafficked for the purposes of forced labor
and commercial sexual exploitation; the majority of children are trafficked within Chad for involuntary domestic servitude,
forced cattle herding, forced begging, forced labor in petty commerce or the fishing industry, or for commercial sexual
exploitation; to a lesser extent, Chadian children are also trafficked to Cameroon, the Central African Republic, and Nigeria for
cattle herding; children may also be trafficked from Cameroon and the Central African Republic to Chad's oil producing
regions for sexual exploitation
Tier rating: the Government of Chad does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is
not making any significant efforts to do so; although facing resource constraints, the government has the capacity to conduct
basic anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts, yet did not do so during the last year; it showed no results in enforcing
government policy prohibiting the recruitment of child soldiers; Chad has not ratified the 2000 UN TIP Protocol (2009)
and commercial sexual exploitation; the majority of children are trafficked within Chad for involuntary domestic servitude,
forced cattle herding, forced begging, forced labor in petty commerce or the fishing industry, or for commercial sexual
exploitation; to a lesser extent, Chadian children are also trafficked to Cameroon, the Central African Republic, and Nigeria for
cattle herding; children may also be trafficked from Cameroon and the Central African Republic to Chad's oil producing
regions for sexual exploitation
Tier rating: the Government of Chad does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is
not making any significant efforts to do so; although facing resource constraints, the government has the capacity to conduct
basic anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts, yet did not do so during the last year; it showed no results in enforcing
government policy prohibiting the recruitment of child soldiers; Chad has not ratified the 2000 UN TIP Protocol (2009)
