Amnesty International Report 2004 - Chad

Covering events from January - December 2003

Nine executions took place, at least four after an unfair trial. Freedom of expression came under attack. Judicial investigations continued into human rights violations under former President Hissein Habré. The impact of an oil pipeline on local people's rights and the environment remained of concern. Tens of thousands of refugees fled to Chad from conflict and state endorsed attacks in Sudan and the Central African Republic (CAR).

Background

General insecurity and violent crime increased. Sporadic armed conflict with the Movement for Democracy and Justice in Chad (MDJT) continued in the north. A peace agreement between the MDJT and the government was signed in December. A action of the MDJT rejected the agreement.

Conflict and human rights abuses in neighbouring Sudan and the CAR forced tens of thousands of refugees to seek refuge in Chad. Chadian combatants believed to include government soldiers helped CAR rebel leader, François Bozizé, to overthrow CAR President Ange-Félix Patassé in March. Several hundred Chadian soldiers, deployed in the CAR as part of a regional peace-keeping force, were involved in human rights violations, including summary executions of alleged looters, and looting.

The government facilitated negotiations between the Sudanese authorities and the Sudan Liberation Army/Movement, which resulted in a cease-fire in September.

In October President Déby's party, the Patriotic Salvation Movement, proposed amending the Constitution to allow President Déby to run for a third term in office. The proposal was met with hostility by the opposition.

Arbitrary detention

• Luc Maokarem Beoudou was arrested in January, detained without charge or trial for three weeks and reportedly ill-treated. He appeared to have been arrested because of an article published in 2000 by his brother, Marc Mbaiguedem Beoudou, then president of a human rights organization, who subsequently fled the country. The article accused a soldier of robbing and killing a trader.

Freedom of expression

Freedom of expression again came under serious attack.

• Prisoners of conscience Bénoudjita Nadjikimo, Publication Director, and Bétoubam Mbainaye, Deputy Chief Editor, of the privately owned Notre Temps newspaper, were convicted of libel after an unfair trial in February. They were fined and sentenced to six months' imprisonment, and Notre Temps was closed for three months. They were released in April.

In October the Minister of Territorial Administration closed the privately owned radio station FM Liberté after it criticized President Déby, although the constitutional authority to take such action rests with the Higher Communication Council. FM Liberté, a vocal critic of human rights abuses, voiced concerns about increased insecurity and the Chad-Cameroon pipeline. The ban was lifted in December.

Executions

Nine men were executed in Chad in November in the first known executions since 1991. At least one person, a woman, remained under sentence of death.

• Four of the executed men had been sentenced to death on 25 October for the murder of a Sudanese member of parliament and Director of the Chad Petroleum Company. Serious flaws in their trial included the use as evidence of incriminating statements allegedly made after torture.

Prisoners under sentence of death had only limited rights of recourse. They could submit a cassation plea for a retrial to the Supreme Court on grounds of gross error of fact and law, and could petition the President for clemency.

Investigations into human rights violations

Belgian and Chadian courts continued judicial investigations into human rights violations including "crimes of torture, murder and enforced disappearance" allegedly committed by former President Habré and others. A case against President Habré proceeded in Belgium despite restrictions to a law on universal jurisdiction, and related investigations in Chad reportedly concluded without charges being brought.

In September a court in the capital, N'Djaména, ruled that two police officers had no case to answer in a civil claim for damages for "unlawful violence, intentional lethal bodily harm, and aggravated grievous bodily harm". Following the killing of Brahim Selguet at a gathering of opposition supporters awaiting presidential election results in May 2001, and the wounding of several women in a peaceful protest about the elections in June 2001, lawyer Jacqueline Moudeïna, herself seriously wounded, and other victims had lodged the claim with the support of human rights groups.

Female genital mutilation

Although a law was passed in 2002 prohibiting female genital mutilation, no cases are known to have been brought to the courts. Female genital mutilation is believed to be widely practised in Chad despite efforts by the authorities and some non-governmental organizations to eradicate the practice.

Chad-Cameroon pipeline

Oil production began in October in southern Chad. The World Bank has held up the Chad-Cameroon pipeline as a model for environmental protection and for the use of revenue for development. The government admitted in 2000 using some associated funding to purchase military equipment. In 2003 exploration for new oil fields began outside the area covered by strict expenditure controls. There were continuing concerns that oil exploitation would have a negative impact on cultural, economic and social rights, that revenues would be misused and that environmental pollution would destroy rural livelihoods. Peaceful protests were organized by civil society groups when production started.

Refugees

At least 12,000 refugees and 14,000 Chadian nationals fled from the CAR into Chad, and tens of thousands of Sudanese refugees arrived from Sudan. The humanitarian situation for most Sudanese refugees was dire, with limited distribution of food and non-food items to only a minority. Attacks by Sudanese militias on refugee camps reportedly killed at least four people.

AI country visits

In November, AI delegates visited Chad to meet Sudanese refugees and conduct research. The delegation also met Chadian government and judicial authorities, and discussed concerns including freedom of expression and the death penalty.