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Universal Periodic Review – MEDIA BRIEF

Tuesday, 29 October 2013 (Morning)

(Disclaimer: The following brief is not an official record, provides a brief factual summary of the UPR Working Group meeting with the State under review, and does not cover all points addressed)

State under review

Chad
Represented by 10-member delegation headed by H.E. Mr. Raoul Laouna GONG, Minister for Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.

Documents

To access national report, compilation of UN information, and summary of stakeholders’ information, visit the Chad page on the UPR website.

Troika *

Benin, Ecuador, United Arab Emirates.

Opening statement by State under review

Few points raised in the  opening statement of State under review:
(See full statement on the Chad page on the UPR Extranet)

  • Chad was committed to protect and promote human rights and had, in 2005, decided to set up a Human Rights Ministry;
  • Since 1990 Chad was making sure that human rights were had the heart of its national policy.  Several convention and treaties had been signed and ratified, amongst which were the Optional Protocol on trafficking in women, the Optional Protocols of the Convention on the Rights of the Child on Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography, and on Children in Armed Conflict, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities; the Convention on Migrant Workers; the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against women; and the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture was signed;
  • A number of national legislative texts had also been adopted, or were currently in the process of being adopted, such as the Family Code, the Penal Code, the Civil Procedure Code, and the Code on the Protection of Children and the Code of Conduct for Soldiers;
  • Concerning child soldiers, a series of measures had been put in place in collaboration with UNICEF. Efforts were being made to check the age of soldiers in armed conflicts and in the eight security and defence zones. No children had been identified at this stage;
  • A family reunion programme for children who had been removed from the armed forces and other security forces had been put in place;
  • There were no cases of trafficking of children in Chad and anything resembling it was being punished. An inter-ministerial technical committee tasked with fighting trafficking in persons had recently been created;
  • A draft decree dealing with child labour was currently being considered by the Government for adoption;
  • The head of delegation noted that as of 2010 offences committed by the press were no longer penalized.  Freedom of the press was upheld in Chad by several mechanisms. But journalists were also requested to conduct their work without inciting hatred or violence;
  • National Gender Policy and a National Strategy to counter gender-based violence had been developed to strengthen the protection of women;
  • The problem of female genital mutilation was being addressed in the draft penal code, which would provide for sanctions against perpetrators. Female genital mutilation was only relevant to certain ethnic groups in Chad and the Government was anxious to punish these acts;
  • With the support of the European Union Chad had seen a reform of its justice sector. Detention centres had been built and rehabilitated according to international standards;
  • While significant progress had been achieved, sociocultural concerns and the lack of qualified resources were still posing problems. But the promotion and protection of human rights remained still a priority for the Government.

Participants

In total 73States participated in the dialogue:  32 HRC members and 41 observers  (Statements available on Chad page on the UPR Extranet).

Positive achievements

Positive achievements noted by delegations included, among others:

  • Chad’s commitment to demobilize child soldiers from defence forces and armed groups;
  • Extending a standing invitation to UN Special Procedures;
  • Advances made in judicial reform;
  • Steps to eliminate discrimination against women;
  • Efforts undertaken to combat poverty;
  • Accession to many international and regional human rights instruments.

Issues and Questions

Issues and questions raised by the Working Group included, among others:

  • On-going efforts to prevent and demobilize child soldiers;
  • Steps to combat all forms of violence against women and female genital mutilation;
  • Plans to impose a moratorium on and eventual abolition of the death penalty;
  • Measures to ensure freedom of expression, opinion and the press were fully guaranteed and respected;
  • Steps to enhance and realize equal education for all;
  • Support provided to the National Human Rights Commission and efforts to bring it in line with the Paris Principles.

Recommendations

States participating in the dialogue posed a series of recommendations to Chad.  These pertained to the following issues, among others: 

  • To continue efforts to prevent the recruitment of child soldiers including the criminalization of such acts;
  • To criminalize all acts of female genital mutilation and punish those responsible; To adopt a revised penal code that expressly prevented and punished all acts of female genital mutilation;
  • To intensify efforts to combat violence against women, carry out awareness raising campaigns on sexual and gender based violence and ensure all reported cases receive an adequate response;
  • To fully implement and enforce laws on violence against women and ensure that victims were able to benefit from the existing legislative framework;
  • To institute a moratorium on the death penalty and works towards an eventual abolition of the death penalty;
  • To appoint a prison ombudsperson to deploy to local prisons to respond to prisoners’ complaints; To take additional steps to improve the living conditions of detainees;
  • To implement a process for the independent investigation of allegations of torture;
  • To ensure the freedoms of expression and opinion were fully guaranteed and respected; To modify or remove legal provisions that infringe the freedom of expression or the press;
  • To continue efforts to guarantee the safety of human rights defenders and journalists from arbitrary arrest of intimidation in line with existing legislation; 
  • To continue efforts to improve literacy rates and ensure equal access to education for boys and girls;
  • To bring the National Human Rights Institution in line with the Paris Principles and to improve funding and capacity of the Institution; 
  • Ratification of human rights instruments: OP to CEDAW, the OP to the ICESCR, the 3rdc OP to the CRC, the OPCAT, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the Rome Statute of the ICC, the 2nd OP to the ICCPR, the Convention on Enforced Disappearances, the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, and the Convention on the Rights of Migrant Workers.  

Adoption of report of Working Group

The adoption of the report of the UPR Working Group on Chad is scheduled to take place onThursday, 31 October 2013 after 4.30 pm.

*The troikas are a group of three States selected through a drawing of lots who serve as rapporteurs and who are charged with preparing the report of the Working Group on the country review with the involvement of the State under review and assistance from the OHCHR. 
**For access to the UPR Extranet, please fill out the following form to receive a username and password

Media contacts: Rolando Gómez, Public Information Officer, OHCHR, + 41(0)22 917 9711, rgomez@ohchr.org
Cédric Sapey, Public Information Officer, OHCHR, + 41(0)22 917 9695, csapey@ohchr.org