CHILD CONCERN

 

Case TCD 201100.1.CC
Follow-up to case TCD 201100.CC

The International Secretariat of OMCT has received new information regarding the following situation in Chad.

 

New Information

The International Secretariat of OMCT has been informed by a reliable source that the government in Chad keeps pressuring its own population in order to oblige children to join the armed forces. Families reportedly have to choose between accepting the recruitment of one of their children or participating in the "war effort" by paying a tax or donating a part of their crops.

In contrast, child abductions have almost disappeared.

 

Brief reminder of the situation

The International Secretariat of OMCT was informed by reliable sources of the forced recruitment of children into the armed forces situated in Northern Chad. Children were allegedly put on the front line in order to detect mines and if reluctant they were reportedly killed. These children were mainly under thirteen years old and belong to the Zagava ethnic group.

According to the information received, the recruitment was carried out by the Fast Intervention Forces - (F.I.R.) headed by General Mahamat DERO - belonging to the President D?y's family, and by the Units of the Presidential Guard (G.S.P.) - headed by General Karim NASSOUR - son-in-law of the President. The two generals allegedly enjoy total impunity. According to the information received, the arrests that preceded the forced recruitment of children, occurred daily, and took place at the sub-prefecture of Iriba, but also at roadblocks that check movement in and out of urban areas. Some arrests allegedly occurred at the Ndjam?a roadblock and some parents of those recruited had reportedly been assaulted and even killed.

 

Remarks and actions requested

The International Secretariat of OMCT keeps being gravely concerned about the situation, and particularly about the physical and psychological integrity of the children and calls on the Government of Chad to take all necessary measures to put an end to the unlawful and arbitrary deprivation of children's liberty and to their forced recruitment into the armed forces, in accordance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and taking into account the principles outlined in the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflicts.

 

Please write to the authorities in Thad urging them to:

1. Guarantee the safety, the physical and psychological integrity of all children;
2. Put an immediate end to the arrest and forced recruitment of all children and especially those of the Zagava ethnic group;
3. Guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with national laws and international human rights standards and in particularly the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

 

Addresses:

Mr IDRISS DEBY
Pr?ident de la R?ublique
Pr?idence de la R?ublique
B.P. 74
N'Djamena
TCHAD
Fax : (235) 51 45 01
Tel. (235) 51 44 37
Telex 5201 KD/ 5307 KD

Mr NAGOUM YAMASSOUM
Premier Ministre Primature
N'Djamena
TCHAD
Fax (235) 52 20 89
Tel (235) 52 63 41
Telex 5351 KD

Le G??al de Brigade ROUTOUANG YOMA GOLONG
Ministre de la Justice
Garde des Sceaux
Minist?e de la Justice
BP. 426
N'Djam?a
TCHAD
Tel./Fax (235) 52 21 39

Mr Mahamat Saleh ANNADIF
Ministre des Affaires Etrang?es et de la Coop?ation
BP. 746
N'Djamena
TCHAD
Telex 5238 KD

Mr Ad?amane Moussa
Ministre de l'Int?ieur
de la S?urit?et de la D?entralisation
Minist?e de l'Int?ieur
N'Djam?a
TCHAD

Colonel Weideing Assi Assou? Ministre de la D?ense
Minist?e de la D?ense et de la R?nsertion
Tel (235) 52 33 09
N'Djam?a
TCHAD
Fax : (235) 52 65 44

Le G??al de Brigade MORNADJI
Chef d'Etat Major G??al des Arm?s (CEMGA)
Camp des Martyrs
BP. 916
N'Djam?a
TCHAD
Tel/Fax : 52 38 11

Diplomatic representatives of Chad accredited to your country.

Geneva, 20 April 2001

Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply

Organisation Mondiale Contre la Torture (OMCT)
World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT)
Organizaci? Mundial Contra la Tortura (OMCT)
8 rue du Vieux-Billard
Case postale 21
CH-1211 Geneve 8
Suisse/Switzerland
Tel. : 0041 22 809 49 39
Fax : 0041 22 809 49 29
E-mail : omct@omct.org
http://www.omct.org