Chad: Promotion Mission, 2000

The mission was composed of Master Rezag Bara, Member of the Commission Master Julienne Ondziel Gnelenga, Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Women in Africa and Annie Rashidi, Legal Secretariat to the Commission. The terms of reference of the mission were:

1. Gather first hand information from governments, NGOs, UN agencies, political parties, civil society, in short, anyone concerned about the situation of human rights; 
2. Draw the attention of authorities to the compliance with their obligations induced under Article 62 of the Charter that Chad has ratified; 
3. Inform the authorities about the process of developing the draft protocol to the African Charter on the Rights of Women in Africa and raise awareness for their collaboration to the success of this endeavour; 
4. Promote human rights and especially women's rights by educating various stakeholders about the work of the Commission, through meetings with intellectuals, trade unionists and members of associations for the defense of human rights, wth a view to establish partnerships based on consultation and information exchange; 
5. Have a picture of the evolution of pluralism, the relationship between the population and the government, and in particular law enforcement, administration and judiciary.

Recommendations 

1. Serious efforts should be made by the authorities to give effect to the provisions of the rule of law, and especially the respect for the fundamental rights and freedoms of citizens. In particular, the magistrates of the judiciary should effectively exercise control over the activities of police and other forces in charge of public safety;
2. Guarantees for the free exercise of political and union activity in a peaceful and democratic way should alllow the success of the upcoming elections with a real chance of alternation in a peaceful manner, promising for the future;
3. The authorities are called upon to protect and strengthen the respect for the freedom of opinion and expression and the freedom of the press;
4. An urgent appeal is sent to the Government to accelerate the development and adoption of the Family Code, protector of women's rights in a framework that respects the principle of equality among citizens;
5. Efforts by the Chadian Government to guarantee the rights and freedoms as provided for not only by the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, but also by other appropriate human rights instruments to which the country is party. In this context, the mission hopes that the Government of Chad will soon present its progress report to the Commission under Article 62 of the African Charter of Human and Peoples' Rights.