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chad

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Author: Solhjell, Randi

Title: Protecting Civilians Against Sexual and Gender-Based Violence in Eastern Chad

Summary: Chad has consistently ranked near the bottom of the Human Development Index. Over the past decade it has experienced the effects of domestic disputes, political instability and growing rebel activity, spillover from the Darfur crisis and the proxy war between government of Sudan and Chad, and widespread violence in the northern Central African Republic (CAR). The consequences have included an influx of refugees from Darfur and CAR seeking protection in neighbouring Chad and an increase in the number of internally displaced persons (IDPs). Although fighting has diminished in recent years, the high number of refugees and IDPs as well as banditry groups and the proliferation of arms continue to pose great security risks. This report focuses on the protection of civilians, especially in terms of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), the Chadian police/ gendarme force Détachment Intégré de Securité (DIS), the potential for early recovery and the prospects of protection provided by the government of Chad after the withdrawal of MINURCAT. Dealing with SGBV involves improving security and is an important element in the humanitarian imperative to protect civilians under the auspices of international humanitarian law and international human rights. In June 2008, the United Nation Security Council (UNSC) unanimously adopted Resolution 1820. The resolution aims at ending sexual violence in conflict, and states: ‘rape and other forms of sexual violence can constitute war crimes, crimes against humanity or a constitutive act with respect to genocide’. It is the result of a much broader agenda to mainstream gender perspectives at all levels of the UN peacekeeping and peacebuilding operations and peace negations since the adoption of UNSC Resolution 1325 (2000) on Women, Peace and Security, of which Resolution 1820 is a strengthened prolongation.

Details: Oslo: Norwegian Institute of International Affairs, 2010. 29p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 29, 2010 at: http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/documents/NUPI_ProtectingCivilians
AgainstSexualandGender-BasedViolenceinEasternChad.pdf

Year: 2010

Country: Chad

Keywords: Rape

Shelf Number: 120127


Author: Perez, Laura

Title: National Outrage: Violence Against Internally Displaced Women and Girls in Eastern Chad

Summary: This report focuses on conflict-related violence against internally displaced women and girls in the department of Dar Sila in eastern Chad. It investigates how the problem has changed over time, analyses the responses of the Chadian government and humanitarian community, and reviews the legal frameworks for protecting the human rights of survivors of violence.

Details: Geneva: International Displacement Monitoring Centre, Norwegian Refugee Council, 2010. 35p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed December 7, 2010 at: http://www.internal-displacement.org/8025708F004BE3B1/(httpInfoFiles)/5380E72B539D04CAC12577E6003D9F9C/$file/Chad_SCR_Nov2010.pdf

Year: 2010

Country: Chad

Keywords: Human Rights

Shelf Number: 120397


Author: Silva, Romesh

Title: State Coordinated Violence in Chad under Hissene Habre: A Statistical Analysis of Reported Prison Mortality in Chad's DDS Prisons and Command Responsibility of Hissene Habre, 1982-1990

Summary: This report documents the death of prisoners inside Chad's Direction de la Documentation et de la Securite (DDS) prisons between 1982 and 1990, and the extent to which former Chadian president Hissene Habre and senior officials within his government are responsible for human rights violations committed by the DDS. The report presents evidence which is consistent with the hypothesis that the policies and practices of Hissene Habre and senior DDS officials, whom Habre appointed, contributed to deaths in custody on a level substantially higher than the adult mortality rate of Chad at the time. The analysis tests the hypotheses that Habre had a superior-subordinate relationship with senior DDS officials and had knowledge of their actions, which resulted in substantial deaths in custody. The available evidence also suggests Habre's "failure to act" in his lack of action to prevent these deaths or reprimand his subordinates who were charged with day-to-day oversight of DDS prisons. The conclusions of the report are developed by analyzing official records of the DDS and other government departments, which were recovered by Human Rights Watch (HRW) in 2001 from the abandoned DDS headquarters in N'Djamena, the Chadian capital. Hissene Habre assumed the presidency of Chad in 1982 and immediately set up the DDS. From the documents recovered from the DDS and coded by HRW to extract data from the narrative, we show that while the DDS was originally part of the Ministry of Interior, within 6 months of its founding Habre re-organized it to operate as a special unit outside of the Ministry of Interior with direct reporting lines to Habre himself. From analysis of routine DDS records, including Situation Journals and death certificates which were recovered and coded, we found that the observed mortality rate within the DDS prisons varied from 30 per 1,000 to 87 per 1,000 prisoners. This rate is substantially higher than the crude death rate of Chad in the 1970's and 1990's which was less than 25 per 1,000, see section 5.2 The crude death rate for the whole of Chad, unlike DDS prison mortality, is mainly driven by high infant mortality. A total of 12,321 individual victims were mentioned in the recovered and coded documents, including documentation of 1,208 deaths in detention. From these documents, we verified that President Habre received 1,265 direct communications about 898 DDS prison detainees. This is direct evidence that Habre's subordinates within the DDS communicated detailed information about the ongoing practices and events within the DDS prisons. The recovered and coded DDS documents provide evidence that the DDS operations were carried out across the di erent provinces of Chad, and that the senior leadership of the DDS was informed about these operations in different regions. Acts of arbitrary arrest, detention and torture are mentioned in the documents. It is not possible to determine how representative these recovered and coded documents are of all DDS documents ever written. Yet, these documents provide evidence of the type of acts which were carried out by the DDS and that the senior leadership, including President Habre, were continuously informed about such acts. Furthermore, among the recovered documents is an Oath of Allegiance in which officials, upon their recruitment into the DDS, swear "their honor, faithfulness and dedication to the President of the Republic..." and solemnly "promise to never betray and keep secret all the activities of the DDS." This suggest how closely President Habre was involved with the operations of the DDS and its oversight. To further assess command responsibility of the DDS, we analyzed the document flow into and out of the DDS. Of the 2,7331 official documents recovered from the former DDS headquarters and coded by HRW, 384 were direct communications from the DDS to President Habre. The bulk of the remaining documents (for which authorship and recipients were readily identifiable) were internal communications within the DDS. These internal documents were usually from the BSIR (Chad's Special Rapid Action Brigade) to the DDS leadership, or from the different service units to the Director of the DDS. Our analysis of document flow shows that -- The Director of the DDS (who was appointed directly by President Habre) received regular written communications from the service units of the DDS. -- President Habre continuously received ad-hoc communications from the DDS Director and its service units about its policies and practices. -- President Habre was directly informed about the status of 898 prisoners, including 38 deaths in detention. -- There is a notable difference between written communication from the Ministry of Interior (MoI) to President Habre and the communication from the DDS to President Habre. This suggests that the DDS was not a regular line ministry (like the MoI), but rather operated like a special unit of the office of the President. This suggests a clear superior-subordinate relationship between President Habre and the DDS. -- President Habre and the Director of the DDS had direct authority for the promotions and transfers of the senior DDS leadership. Our analysis shows evidence that -- Large-scale human rights violations were carried out inside the DDS prisons. -- Both President Habre and the Director of the DDS were well informed of DDS operations and prisoner deaths. -- There was a superior-subordinate relationship between President Habre and the DDS senior leadership. There are several limitations of our findings. Foremost is the fact that we are unable to estimate the total magnitude of violations carried out by DDS officials and the full extent of President Habre's knowledge of these acts. However, our analysis of the DDS's own records does show evidence that large-scale human rights violations were committed by the DDS, that the DDS was under President Habre's command, and that Habre was continuously informed about DDS operations. Also, although we identified some instances of officials being relieved of their duties by their superiors, it is not clear on what basis such actions were taken.

Details: Palo Alto, CA: Human Rights Data Analysis Group, Human Rights Program, Benetech, 2010. 73p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 11, 2011 at: http://www.hrdag.org/about/downloads/State-Violence-in-Chad.pdf

Year: 2010

Country: Chad

Keywords: Deaths in Custody (Chad)

Shelf Number: 121718


Author: Amnesty International

Title: Chad: ‘We Are All Dying Here’: Human Rights Violations in Prisons

Summary: Prison conditions in Chad are so deplorable that they amount to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment. Cells are severely overcrowded, and food and drinking water are inadequate and sometimes not available. prisoners are dependent on family and friends to supplement their diet and provide other necessities, which means that those with no such support, or held in a prison far from their home, go without. Children including young girls are detained together with adults. Most prisoners are held in pre-trial detention, some for years. Health care and medical services do not exist in the majority of prisons in Chad. Amnesty International delegates found that in several prisons they visited, many prisoners required medical care and were suffering from skin diseases and rashes, for which no treatment was provided. Those suffering from serious transmissible diseases such as tuberculosis, or sexually transmitted infections and hiv, are particularly at risk. Riots due to the appalling conditions are common and have resulted in prisoners being shot dead by guards. Resources allocated to the prisons are limited and undermined by bribery and corruption. This report is based on prison visits, interviews and other research carried out by Amnesty International in November 2011 and March 2012. It documents the conditions in Chad’s prisons and exposes human rights violations committed inside them. The report calls on the government, with the assistance of the international community where necessary, to put in place urgent measures to reform the prison system.

Details: London: Amnesty International, 2012.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 12, 2012 at: https://www.amnesty.org/fr/library/asset/AFR20/007/2012/fr/de5e6bea-5e6d-4455-ad82-6ae6d08e6ab4/afr200072012en.pdf

Year: 2012

Country: Chad

Keywords: Human Rights

Shelf Number: 126301


Author: Dijk, Annigje van

Title: Is violence hiding behind bars? Encounters with trauma in the fight against alcoholism waged by beneficiaries and staff members of a small detox centre in N'Djamena, Chad

Summary: In N'Djamena, the capital of Chad, the idea of 'trauma' became embedded in the 'fight against aloholism' of a small centre, guiding ideas and therpeutic practices in the detoxification trajectories of individuals. I studied this case as one of multiple engagements with trauma in 'conflict-affected' areas, the number of which is growing now global mental health has become one of the new pillars of international intervention. Using 'friction', a concept of Tsing (2005), I analysed what happens in the different encounters with trauma in this centre, on the level of the centre's staff, and on that of its beneficiaries. I argue that staff, in their construction of a 'trauma narrative' around alcoholism, also start to see 'violence' in ways that are different than their beneficiaries. These beneficiaries take some parts, but not others of the psychotherapeutic 'version' of their own stories over in their own narratives. The idea that is central to trauma, that it layse bare 'hidden violence', however, makes that the discrepancies between their stories remains. This paradox shows that 'trauma' in a powerful concept that, when applied, can easily overlook or judge alternative ways of giving meaning to violence.

Details: Utrecht, NL: Utrecht University, 2016. 77p.

Source: Internet Resource: Thesis: Accessed February 28, 2017 at: https://dspace.library.uu.nl/handle/1874/338950

Year: 2016

Country: Chad

Keywords: Aggressive Behavior

Shelf Number: 141249


Author: International Crisis Group

Title: Watchmen of Lake Chad: Vigilante Groups Fighting Boko Haram

Summary: Vigilante groups in Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger and Chad play a major role in the fight against Boko Haram, but their presence raises concerns. They make military operations less blunt and more effective and have reconnected these states somewhat with many of their local communities, but they have also committed abuses and become involved in the war economy. In Nigeria in particular, vigilantism did much to turn an anti-state insurgency into a bloodier civil war, pitting Boko Haram against communities and leading to drastic increases in violence. As the conflict continues to evolve, so will vigilantes. They are enmeshed with high politics, especially in Nigeria, and in local intercommunal relations, business operations and chiefdoms. Their belief that they should be rewarded will need to be addressed, and it is also important for the Lake Chad basin states to address the common gap in community policing, particularly in rural areas. To ensure vigilantes are not a future source of insecurity, these states will each need to devise their own mix of slowly disbanding and formalising and regulating them. Vigilantism, the recourse to non-state actors to enforce law and order (of a sort), has a history in the Lake Chad region. Colonial powers there relied, to a substantial degree, on local traditional chiefs and their retinues. The multi-faceted crisis in governance and decline in services among the Lake Chad states since the 1980s gave rise to new vigilante groups. The law and order challenges vigilantes tried to address were a factor in the formation and growth of Boko Haram, itself an attempt to provide regulation and guidance. The vigilante fight against Boko Haram started in 2013, in Maiduguri, the Borno state capital and the insurgency's epicentre, under the twin pressure of mounting jihadist violence and security force retaliation. The Joint Task Force (JTF), led by the Nigerian army, quickly realised the vigilantes’ potential as a source of local knowledge, intelligence and manpower and set out to help organise it, with the assistance of local and traditional authorities. Operating under the unofficial but revealing name of Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF), vigilantes were essential in flushing Boko Haram out of the city, then began replicating throughout the state. The official use of vigilantes to fight the movement spread further in Nigeria, then to Cameroon in 2014 and Chad in 2015, where the groups are known as comités de vigilance. Niger has been more cautious, partly because of past struggles with armed groups and because it has not needed them as much. Vigilantes have played many roles, from mostly discrete surveillance networks in Niger to military combat auxiliaries or semi-autonomous fighting forces in Nigeria. For the region’s overstretched and under pressure militaries, they have somewhat filled the security gap and provided local knowledge. They have made the military response more targeted and more efficient, but their mobilisation also provoked retribution by Boko Haram against their communities and contributed to the massive levels of civilian casualties in 2014 and 2015. Paradoxically, this, too, has favoured regional governments’ strategy of pushing civilians away from the jihadists. As the insurgency splinters and falls back on more discrete guerrilla operations and terror attacks, however, the time has come to measure the risks posed by such a massive mobilisation of vigilantes (they claim to be about 26,000 in Borno state alone). Their compensation demands will have to be addressed, especially if authorities consider offering deals to Boko Haram militants to lay down their weapons. In the longer term, vigilantes may become political foot soldiers, turn to organised crime or feed communal violence. Vigilantism can be a powerful counter-insurgency tool, but there is a compelling need to confront the immediate concerns it raises, notably in terms of impunity, and to begin planning for its long-term post-conflict transformation.

Details: Brussels: International Crisis Group, 2017. 37p.

Source: Internet Resource: Africa Report No. 244: Accessed March 8, 2017 at: https://d2071andvip0wj.cloudfront.net/244-watchmen-of-lake-chad-vigilante-groups-fighting-boko-haram.pdf

Year: 2017

Country: Chad

Keywords: Boko Haram

Shelf Number: 141380