AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL

Public Statement

AI Index: AFR 20/003/2007 (Public)

News Service No: 018

29 January 2007

Chad: urgent need to protect the people of eastern Chad

Amnesty International calls for immediate and effective action to protect civilians in eastern Chad. Rapes and killings are continuing in this region and the people cannot wait any longer for protection. Amnesty International considers that as in neighbouring Sudan’s Darfur region, crimes against humanity and war crimes are being committed in eastern Chad.

During its last mission to Chad in November 2006 and documented in its report “Chad: Are we citizens of this country”(AI Index AFR 20/001/2006) Amnesty International noted an escalation of deliberate and targeted attacks on the civilian population by Janjawid militia crossing over from Sudan and by local Chadian Arab and some non Arabgroups. One 14 year-old girl witnessed the summary killing of 19 men by the Janjawid outside the village of Wiririké in the Darsila region on 11 October 2006:

“It was about midday and I was going back to the village when three men on horseback chased me and captured me. They hit me and tied my two arms behind me with rope and put a rope around my neck and made me run with them. They also captured my uncle. They then walked us towards the Wadai village of Wiririké and took us to the field just outside. There were 19 men with their arms tied behind their backs. There were maybe 50 or so armed men. (…) A man in green uniform came and shot the men one by one along the line in the head. One bullet did not work and so he used a stick and smashed the head of the man until he was dead. They were all killed …”

Amnesty International is wondering how many more testimonies are needed to persuade the Chadian Government and the United Nations to act quickly and effectively to protect civilians.

Since the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1706 of 31 August 2006, which foresaw the establishment of a multidimensional presence in key locations in Chad, progress has been slow. The government of Chad has been either unable or unwilling to protect the inhabitants of eastern Chad from attacks. On the other hand, the United Nations sent a second technical assessment mission to the region in January 2007 to gather more information about the situation on the ground before authorizing the deployment of a multidimensional United Nations presence. According to the findings of the first technical mission, which visited Chad in November 2006, any multidimensional United Nations presence should have a ‘robust monitoring and protection’ component, including a military force.

The findings of any further technical mission should not delay the United Nations Security Council but be used to strengthen the effectiveness of its action. Today in Eastern Chad as well as in Sudan’s Darfur region, a human rights and humanitarian crisis is unfolding. In the face of such atrocities and given the urgency of the situation, Amnesty International urges:

1. The governments of Chad and Sudan, as well as all the armed groups operating in their territories, to respect their obligations under international human rights and humanitarian law, in particular those relating to the protection of civilians;

2. The United Nations Security Council to authorize without undue delay the deployment in the region of an international presence mandated to effectively protect all civilians. This United Nations presence in the region should be of the size and have the means to fully implement its mandate;

3. The United Nations member states to support any eventual Secretary General’s call to contribute troops and other personnel to United Nations presence in the region.