Human Rights Committee
Ninety- sixth session
Summary record of the 2636th meeting
Held at the Palais Wilson, Geneva, on Friday, 17 July 2009, at 3 p.m.
Chairperson:Mr. Iwasawa(Japan)
Contents
Consideration of reports submitted by States parties under article 40 of the Covenant (continued)
Initial report of the Republic of Chad (continued)
The meeting was called to order at 3 p.m.
Consideration of reports submitted by States parties under article 40 of the Covenant (agenda item 7) (continued)
Initial report of the Republic of Chad (CCPR/C/TDC/1; CCPR/C/TDC/Q/1; CCPR/C/TDC/Q/1/Add.1) ( continued )
1.At the invitation of the Chairperson, the delegation of Chad resumed places at the Committee table.
2.Mr. Arabi (Chad), responding to the question about the executions that had taken place in 2003, said that in the case of the murder of the Sudanese businessman, the suspects had been arrested the day after the murder, 26 September 2003, and brought before the criminal investigation department for preliminary questioning. They had received a committal order from the investigating judge two days later. They had been sentenced to death following a two-day trial, during which they had access to court-appointed lawyers. They had submitted a request for pardon, thereby acknowledging that the judgement handed down in first instance had acquired the authority of a final decision, and was therefore no longer eligible for appeal, which was why the appeal lodged by their lawyers with the Supreme Court had been withdrawn. The President of the Republic had refused their pardon, and they had been executed in public at the beginning of November 2003. This case had been of special importance since the sentence had been handed down not only to punish the murderers and send a strong message to others who were committing abuse daily, but also to regain the trust of foreign investors.
3.Act No. 06/PR/2002 on the promotion of reproductive health (paragraph 100 of the State party report) prohibited female genital mutilation. However, current government action in that regard was aimed more towards prevention and awareness-raising than punishment. That effort had been successful, since there had been a significant reduction in female genital mutilation practices in urban areas. The penalties for those responsible for female genital mutilation were to be set out in the draft family code and the draft code on child protection. Polygamy was particularly widespread in rural areas, and according to the existing marital regime, each couple had the free choice between a monogamous or polygamous marriage. The Government, in collaboration with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), had established a programme for child cattle herders and children in domestic work, the initial results of which had been promising, since a number of children had already been reunited with their families. It should not be forgotten that poverty was the fundamental cause of the phenomenon, and that it could not be eliminated without addressing the former. Although the adoption system in Chad was regulated by a text dating from 1963, which no longer matched contemporary reality, a draft revision had been written and submitted to the National Assembly.
4.In order to overcome the shortcomings in the army, which had partly resulted from lack of military training for soldiers, a forum of the army had been organized in 2005, and had given rise to a number of recommendations on reform. Regarding the police, failure clearly to assign responsibility increased the risk of blunders which were unfortunately frequent. Any such incident that was brought to the attention of the judicial authorities was subject to an investigation, and if appropriate, to trial and punishment. In the Jacqueline Moudeïna case legal proceedings had been instituted against the chief of police in office at the time of the incident, but had been dropped for lack of evidence.
5.The Superior Council of the Magistrature comprises two representatives of the Supreme Court, two representatives of the court of appeal, two representatives of the courts and one representative of the justices of the peace, all of whom had been elected by their peers. The President of the Republic was the legal President of the Council, and the Presiding Justice of the Supreme Court and the Minister of Justice were the first and second Vice-Presidents respectively. The Superior Council of the Magistrature met to appoint judges at the proposal of the Minister of Justice. For disciplinary hearings the Council was presided over by the Presiding Justice of the Supreme Court and ruled on the basis of reports submitted to it by the Ministry of Justice.
6.Although in some cases children joined the armed forces of Chad, that was not the result of government policy, since the Government was striving to stop children from participating in armed conflicts, whether in the national army or the rebel forces. The Ministry of Defence was taking the necessary measures to grant NGOs access to military camps in order to ensure that there were no children there. Recently 84 child soldiers had been captured from the rebel forces by the national army and had been placed in UNICEF care.
7.Although the Government was aware that prisons did not meet international standards, the draft reform of the judicial system provided for the construction of new facilities that met those standards. On the question of chaining prisoners, it should be explained that there were places in Chad where there were no prisons, or even secure buildings in which to detain offenders, and that chaining was sometimes the only way to prevent criminals from escaping while awaiting transfer to the detention facility in N’Djamena or the high security prison in Koro Toro.
8.It was true that former torturers from the Directorate for Documentation and Security (DDS) now held positions of responsibility in the State administration. That had been criticized during Chad’s examination under the universal periodic review procedure in May 2009 (A/HRC/WG.6/5/L.4) and the Ministry for Human Rights had conveyed to the Government the concerns expressed and requested that those concerned should be removed from office and brought to justice.
9.Mr. Djasnabaille (Chad) said that there was no denying that there were many areas in which there was a significant gap between the provisions of the law and international instruments, and practical reality, but a country like Chad, which was almost starting from zero, could not be expected to conform to international standards in such a short time. On the issue of child soldiers, he pointed out that since 2006, on the initiative of the Ministry for Human Rights, the Government had been taking a very strong stance, and had given leaders of the armed forces instructions that formally prohibited and punished the enrolment of minors. Unscheduled inspections of barracks were conducted to check that those instructions were being obeyed and to take the appropriate measures in the event of a violation. While in some cases, children liked to dress up in uniform to imitate their elders, military leaders who accepted minors among their troops were liable to punishment. All cases of child soldiers had to be reported to the Ministry for Human Rights, which was working actively with UNICEF, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and humanitarian organizations in the field. The Government had also taken measures to prevent the enrolment of minors by Sudanese and Chadian rebels in the eastern part of Chad. A major awareness-raising effort had been undertaken among displaced and refugee families in cooperation with UNHCR, and a programme to promote schooling for children in camps had been established with support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Furthermore, monitoring by the United Nations Mission in the Central African Republic (MINURCAT) soldiers and the internal security force made it more difficult for rebels to recruit children.
10.A general population census had recently been completed. The data had to be entered in the computer system and centralized in town halls, which would take time. A birth registration programme was under way. That would also take time, since there was a vast area to be covered and mindsets took time to change; information and awareness-raising measures were required, particularly in rural areas, in order for the people to understand the importance of registering births.
11.The Government had begun a scheme for prison renovation and construction, while taking care to ensure that the new facilities complied with international standards, but it was a long process. The Koro Toro prison, which was located in the middle of the desert, required particular attention. The Ministry for Human Rights and the Ministry of Justice were responsible for that effort, and would conduct a thorough investigation to determine the exact conditions and act accordingly. In response to the allegations of torture of prisoners, the Ministry for Human Rights had decided to grant the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and any requesting NGO permission to conduct unscheduled visits to all places of detention in order for any abuses to be reported and stopped.
12.The maximum time for remand in custody was 48 hours as determined by law. While that of course did not guarantee that period would be respected in practice, prosecutors conducted on-site inspections and ensured that custody was lawful. In case of any breach, they ordered the release of suspects who were being remanded in custody unlawfully, and the officials responsible were punished. Although the Ministry for Human Rights had made clear its position on the issue of former DDS torturers with high-level positions in the State administration by requesting the President and Prime Minister to remove those individuals from office, only a determined effort would make it possible to oust them for good and bring them to justice, since corruption and nepotism were widespread.
13.There were many generals and soldiers in the army who remained faithful to Hissène Habré and dictatorial practices. The Government was in a difficult position, since it wanted to reform the army and remove them, but it also needed all the soldiers at its disposal to defend the border. The violent police repression of the women’s protest in which Jacqueline Moudeïna had been participating was unacceptable and it was inadmissible that those responsible for those events remained free and in office. A judgement had nevertheless been handed down and should be complied with. Action must be taken at the political level, and efforts were being made in that regard by the Ministry for Human Rights; nothing would be possible without the mobilization of all sectors of society.
14.Mr. Amor said that while he felt that the answers given by the delegation were sincere, when the Head of the delegation had said that Chad was starting from scratch, one could not help thinking that more progress could have been made since Chad had gained independence half a century ago. The situation gave grounds for concern. It seemed, for example, that there was total impunity: either the guilty were not brought to justice, as had been the case with Hissène Habré and his former accomplices, or trials were held, as in the Jacqueline Moudeïna case, but there was no conviction. In that context, one might wonder what the true position of the Government was with regard to impunity, and what measures were being taken to combat it.
15.Mr. Djasnabaille (Chad) said that while Chad’s independence went back several decades, since then there had been nothing but conflict and civil war. The infrastructure and institutions inherited from the colonial era had been destroyed completely. In 1979, Chad had been reduced to nothing. Subsequently, under Hissène Habré’s regime nothing had been done to restore the rule of law, since that regime had been a dictatorship. Only in 1990 had democracy been restored, and with great difficulty. It had been necessary to start again from scratch. Everything in the country was new: the administration, buildings and staff, political parties, as well as civil society. Lack of experience was widespread and everyone was learning their profession, with the mistakes that entailed. That was Chad’s current situation. The present Government, however, wished to move forward, and in particular to combat impunity at all levels; accordingly whenever a violation was committed an administrative investigation was begun. If there were grounds for a trial, the case would be forwarded to the judicial authorities. Punishment should not only be administrative or judicial, but also be political. Efforts to overcome political impunity would take a long time, but the Government was working actively to that end.
16.Although Chad’s request for Hissène Habré’s trial had been loud and clear, Senegal, which was responsible for conducting the trial, claimed to have financial difficulties. Furthermore, it would be a double standard to try Hissène Habré without trying Omar el-Béchir, who was also taunting the international community with the support of many African countries.
17.Regarding the case of forced marriage mentioned by one member of the Committee, he said he would personally look into the issue. However, parents were themselves responsible for forced marriages. Furthermore, some asylum-seekers would say anything in order to obtain refugee status.
18.The Chairperson thanked the members of the delegation for their replies, and invited the members of the Committee to move on to consideration of questions 20 to 27 on the list of issues.
19.Ms. Majodina said that Chad was seventh on the list of the world’s most corrupt countries. Corruption also affected the private sector, but when it was at such an endemic level among public officials, it was impossible to talk about rule of law. It would be useful to know what measures were being taken to overcome that problem. Although in 2003, a group of judges had recommended measures to overcome corruption in the justice system, for example, the establishment of a body for judicial inspection, those recommendations had never been implemented.
20.Regarding the provisions governing imprisonment for inability to fulfil a contractual obligation, which were in violation of article 11 of the Covenant, the State party had itself recognized in its initial report that those provisions dated back to 1966, and therefore required thorough revision. If the law no longer corresponded to the current situation, it should be rescinded, rather than simply revised. Regarding harassment of human rights defenders, she said that although according to some information the situation seemed to have improved slightly, the intelligence services continued to target human rights defenders and prevented them from investigating the disappearances of political opponents. She requested further information on that issue.
21.Mr. Amor said that although the State party recognized that there were cases of arbitrary interference in private life perpetrated by over-zealous officials, it had not provided any information on that issue. Furthermore, according to other sources, those interferences occurred frequently and anyone with the least authority could perpetrate violations of the home or destruction or confiscation of property. A particularly large number of such cases had occurred during the events of February 2008. It would be useful to know how many criminal or civil cases had been brought for such acts and what the result had been, particularly when the person in question had been a public official claiming to act on behalf of the political authorities.
22.It would also be useful to know what Chad was doing, or could do, to bring peaceful solutions to religious issues. There were some forms of religious obscurantism that were socially accepted and not prevented by the State. Religious education, in particular, should not be left in the hands of the unenlightened. Some denominations also had increased freedom, which was not a negative aspect in itself, but they sometimes demonstrated extremism, at least verbally, which should not be ignored.
23.While the written replies of the State party stated that considerable efforts had been made to disseminate the Covenant, that did not, in fact, seem to be the case. He wondered whether in practice, security forces had copies of the text of human rights instruments, and whether explanatory messages were issued on the subject. The same question arose in respect of State administration officials, as well as for judges and lawyers. He asked whether human rights education programmes were being implemented in schools and universities. The overriding impression was that only an elite few were aware of human rights culture. Much, therefore, remained to be done in that regard.
24.Mr. Fathalla said he had understood that the only restriction on forming a political party was that set out in article 6 of Act No. 45 of 14 December 1994 on political parties. He wondered whether, as a result, a group that wished to create a religious political party, such as a Muslim or a Christian party, could do so provided its agenda prohibited intolerance, tribalism, regionalism, denominationalism, xenophobia, and incitement or recourse to violence in all its forms.
25.Mr. Bhagwati noted that legal aid was not yet regulated by enabling legislation and that it was only granted to parties accused of crimes punishable by death, which was a matter for concern in a country where a large proportion of the population were poor. Furthermore, legal aid defence was provided by unqualified law students; it would be useful to know whether they at least underwent special training or received guidance from experienced lawyers. Furthermore, he asked whether the State party intended to implement programmes to disseminate legal information among the public, for example with the assistance of NGOs, if it was unable to do so itself. It was essential that people knew their rights in order to exercise them.
26.Sir Nigel Rodley noted that under paragraph 51 of the Constitution of Chad, all citizens of Chad were obliged to defend the nation and uphold national sovereignty, and that military service was compulsory. He wondered whether conscientious objection was authorized, and if so, what procedures were applied to objectors.
27.He thanked the delegation of Chad for their replies to questions on the executions that had taken place on 6 and 9 November 2003, but said the Committee still did not know whether those concerned had received the assistance of a lawyer after their arrest, and whether they had been executed before or after a possible appeal on points of law. He would appreciate clarification from the delegation on those issues, without which the Committee would draw its own conclusions, given that the sentences would have been handed down on the basis of evidence obtained under torture.
28.Ms. Wedgwood said that according to the Women’s Human Rights and Gender Unit of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, girls aged 11 or 12 years underwent marriages arranged by their families, which could be done in order to obtain a dowry. That situation, while probably illegal, existed in practice and was very worrying.
29.Without going so far as to say, as some might, that democratic States did not go to war with one another, it was possible to consider that they were less likely to experience domestic conflict, since their population was able to express itself through ballots and participate in legislative and even presidential elections, which led people to turn less frequently to rebellion, and made them less likely to take up arms. She asked the delegation to comment on that issue and also asked whether the Government was considering taking measures to ensure that the different clans, tribes and minority groups felt able to secure full representation for themselves, and thus felt less the need to take up arms to assert their rights.
30.She asked how many political parties there were and whether their registration was subject to restrictions or to criteria that were sufficiently strict to constitute a restriction. She asked whether Government members all belonged to the same political party or were of the same ethnic origin.
31.The Chairperson proposed that the meeting should be suspended to allow the delegation to prepare its replies to the Committee’s questions.
The meeting was suspended at 4.20 p.m. and resumed at 4.50 p.m.
32.Mr. Arabi (Chad), on the subject of legal aid, said that in accordance with the law, legal aid could be granted to any litigant if they were unable to exercise their legal rights, either as a petitioner or as a defendant for want of money. In practice, however, legal aid was reserved only for certain criminal cases, in which the assistance of legal counsel was compulsory. The Government hoped that the legislative reform would enable legal aid to be extended to all criminal and civil cases.
33.Although the Constitution of Chad did indeed provide for compulsory military service, in practice it was not an obligation for ordinary citizens; only a select number of specialized universities, such as the National School for the Judiciary, provided their students with a few weeks’ military training.
34.Mr. Djasnabaille (Chad), replying to questions on corruption, observed that corruption was a global phenomenon. In Chad, corruption had stemmed from the country opening up to the rest of the world after having gained independence, and from the experience brought from abroad by Chadian citizens, who had returned after having fled from the civil war. According to an NGO study, Chad was ranked seventh in the list of countries most affected by corruption. Although that remained to be confirmed, the situation was cause for concern for the authorities. Corruption was a fact in Chad, in the administration, the police, among traders, and in other environments, and had even increased in electoral processes within the judiciary, as had been recognized by judges during the forum organized for the judiciary. In order to overcome the phenomenon however, it was necessary to prove that corruption was taking place. It was often difficult to collect sufficient evidence, but if cases were proved, sanctions would be taken. A revision of the Criminal Code was under way, and should enable the situation to be improved.
35.Imprisonment for non-repayment of debts was not justified and constituted a violation of law, since debt was a civil issue. However, it had to be recognized that judges sometimes used detention as a substitute for fine collection, which was unacceptable. When the authorities tried to contest such situations, they often faced obstacles such as judicial recess or procedural delays, or were opposed by the judiciary, on grounds of the principle of judicial independence. The legislative reform, however, would doubtless enable imprisonment for debt to be eliminated.
36.Turning to the question of protection for human rights defenders, he said that the authorities considered it particularly important for human rights defenders to feel free to exercise their activities, and officers of the Ministry of the Interior, Justice and Defence had thus been informed of the need to ensure that human rights defenders were not subjected to pressure, and were protected, particularly by ensuring that the intelligence services did not monitor all their activities and did not consider them to be enemies of the nation.
37.No one was “untouchable” or above the law in Chad. The Government had been and remained vigilant in order to ensure that no one enjoyed immunity from prosecution and that perpetrators of crimes answered for their acts before the courts. The same principle applied to the allies of the former President of Chad who had all their opponents arrested — the presidential guard had even broken into courthouses to take away persons facing charges — and had committed acts of torture, misappropriation of public property and large-scale corruption, as well as being responsible for placing the military in the administration. Although they had claimed to be guiding Chad towards democracy, no one had swallowed their lies and when they had finally realized that power was not hereditary and that they would be unable to hand it on to their protégés, they had given up and fled.
38.As far as respect for privacy was concerned, all States and not only Chad sought to interfere in their citizens’ lives. Although there certainly had been abuses, particularly by the intelligence services, the Government had taken steps to remedy the situation and to ensure that the intelligence services did not go beyond their remit, which was simply to ensure State security.
39.In reply to a question about the regrettable events of 2008, during which the mayor of N’Djamena had attempted to recover government land by force, and with complete disregard for any humanitarian feelings, and had ordered the expulsion of the 1,500 families living on the land without awaiting the ruling by the court dealing with the case, he emphasized that the action was unacceptable and had led to the mayor being summoned by the President of the Republic himself, who had drawn his attention to the need to allow the law to run its course. As had been mentioned in Chad’s universal periodic review, the mayor had been a member of the Directorate for Documentation and Security, Hissène Habré’s political police, a fact which the authorities had never attempted to conceal. The mayor had now adopted a more constructive attitude and the incident was an illustration of the Government’s concern with ensuring that there was no impunity for those who broke the law.
40.With regard to the development of Koranic schools, he said that the matter was the subject of debate in Chad and admitted that some religious schools were actively proselytizing. A foreign television channel had produced a documentary on two Koranic schools in which pupils were chained. People had been rightly indignant about that and the authorities, who had known nothing about it before the programme was broadcast, had immediately ordered the schools to be closed down. The authorities could not be accused of laxity in such matters and were particularly vigilant about the curriculum of religious education. On the other hand, however, Chad was a secular State and the authorities were required to ensure that freedom of religion was fully observed. He also mentioned that sects were prohibited in Chad.
41.Human rights training, which included training on the provisions of the major international human rights instruments, was provided in cooperation with the French authorities, in gendarmerie training schools and at the national police college. Seminars, which included a human rights component, had also been organized in conjunction with MINURCAT and it was planned to develop them in future. Lastly, human rights training had been included in primary- and secondary-school curricula. As a rule, the Government tried to ensure that human rights values were not reserved for the elite but were broadly popularized among the population.
42.There were hardly any restrictions in Chad on freedom of association and of assembly. There were 104 political parties and it was so easy to found a political party that the officials of the presidential majority party and the members of the opposition had felt the need, without any action by the Government, to set rules whereby only political parties that could prove they were present nationwide would be permitted; such a measure should reduce the plethora of parties. The rapidly increasing number of associations was a sign of a healthy democracy and women’s associations were particularly numerous. He said that although Chadian women were to be found in positions of responsibility in different sectors, their political participation was still insufficient. In order to promote freedoms in a country it was essential to promote the rights of women and to take into account the gender perspective, and the authorities intended to require political parties standing for election to include a certain proportion of women candidates.
43.Further to the remarks made by Mr. Arabi regarding legal aid, he said that one of the tasks of the Ministry for Human Rights, which he headed, was to provide assistance to people who were too poor to bring legal proceedings against richer people with links to those in power, thus helping to restore the balance between litigants.
44.Another aspect of the Ministry’s activity was providing support to NGOs in their efforts to raise awareness of human rights among the population and to uphold fundamental freedoms. Although such action was primarily the responsibility of NGOs, the Government gave them support and helped them in their task. For example, it was planned to organize a large-scale human rights awareness campaign as part of the implementation of the agreement of 13 August 2007.
45.Democracy and the promotion of human rights were also secured by the ballot box, and as a further development under the process following the 13 August 2007 agreement, the authorities had striven to strike a balance between the opposition and the presidential majority and had taken a range of different measures to ensure the transparency of the elections and to punish any irregularities. There was no doubt that progress had been made in that regard, even if it was still inadequate. Ensuring the conditions necessary for elections to go ahead smoothly had to go hand in hand with efforts to inform voters, for which support had been requested from the European Union. Everything possible had been done to prevent a recurrence of the irregularities, and in particular the corruption, that had marked the previous election. The Government had also taken steps to enable people who had left Chad and who wished to take part in the elections to return to the country and, if they so wished, to set up their own party. In that respect too, insufficient progress had perhaps been made, but it was progress nevertheless. Under the former regime, all the members of the Government had been in league with one another. Such was not the case of the current Government, whose members belonged to different ethnic groups and political parties. For example, his ministry included people of different political persuasions who came from different regions.
46.Regarding refugees who handed their children over to rebel groups or to the army, efforts carried out in the field to raise awareness had borne fruit and as a result the practice had stopped. In future, any parents who handed their children over to a rebel group or to the army would be held liable and face punishment.
47.Ms . Wedgwood said that the freedom of religion guaranteed by the Covenant applied to all religions without distinction; accordingly no unwarranted restrictions should apply to relatively recent religions or spiritual persuasions. In the light of those considerations, she asked whether the Chadian authorities would consider allowing followers of those new persuasions to proselytize, which was currently not the case. According to some reports, it was apparently difficult for women’s associations freely to demonstrate. She asked the delegation for clarification in that respect. Whatever the case, if the Government wished to encourage more active participation by civil society, it should ensure that the right to demonstrate was guaranteed and provide protection for people who demonstrated. She would appreciate information on whether access to the Internet was subject to control and whether it was in the hands of a monopoly or open to competition.
48.With regard to efforts to combat corruption, she asked whether the agreement between Chad and Cameroon whereby part of the income from oil was put aside for future generations and efforts were made to ensure that the income was not misappropriated had been revived.
49.Mr . Bhagwati said that some of his questions had not received a satisfactory reply. He repeated them and said that the delegation could answer in writing if it so wished. He wanted to know whether any measures had been introduced to improve knowledge of the law among the population, either at school or through efforts by NGOs, as many poor people were ignorant of their rights and were consequently unable to assert them. He would also appreciate clarification of the role played by law graduates in the legal aid programme, to which reference was made in the written replies.
50.Mr . Amor said that he had not received a reply to his question about the Arche de Zoé affair and its consequences.
51.Mr . Djasnabaille said that all religions, whether major religions such as Islam and Christianity or other more recent ones, could be practised freely provided their followers did not disturb the peace or foment hatred among communities or religions. In order to prevent religions from being a source of conflict, a dialogue between Christians and Muslims had been developed in Chad; as part of the dialogue, regular meetings were held to discuss religious and secular matters. In Chad there was complete freedom of religion. No one was persecuted on account of their religion and all religious movements could practise their faith freely, provided they obeyed the rules. It was true that women’s associations, human rights activists and trade unionists had taken part in a demonstration in front of the French Embassy in Chad, and that the demonstration had been put down by the security forces. In order to prevent such excesses, the State endeavoured to improve the training given to police officers, in particular thanks to cooperation with France, MINURCAT and associations of human rights activists who were responsible for awareness-raising activities among the security forces. The matter was to be discussed at the forthcoming human rights forum, and an increase in the police training budget was already scheduled.
52.There was no control over the Internet in Chad. Everyone was free to express their opinion, from anywhere in the world, regardless of whether they supported or criticized the Government. There was a public Internet provider, although there was no obligation for people to take out a subscription with the company. It was possible to host a Chadian website in another country. For the time being, there was no legislation on use of the Internet, although the Government was giving the matter its attention.
53.Associations were carrying out an advice and information campaign for the public in order to address its ignorance of the law, and information on human rights was also provided at school. However, the problem called for a large-scale response and there were plans to discuss it at the human rights forum in order to give it priority and draw up a global plan of action. The Government intended to carry out radio and television information campaigns together with an outreach campaign directed at civil society. It planned to assign funds to that effort and to provide support for the associations, who were carrying out remarkable work among the population. Law graduates played an active role in the awareness-raising activities of human rights associations. Young unemployed graduates were encouraged to do such work until professional colleges had been established to train the judges and lawyers needed by Chad.
54.The unfortunate affair involving the Arche de Zoé had seriously undermined the Government’s confidence in NGOs, which it had previously welcomed in the belief that they worked on behalf of the population, as indeed many of them did. Although the avowed purpose of the Arche de Zoé had been to build schools and children’s homes, in fact it served as a cover for the interests of powerful operators, including laboratories. The Government of Chad believed that compensation should be paid for the trauma suffered by the children, and discussions were under way with the French Government. The Government of Chad was confident that the friendly relations between the two countries would make an agreement possible. In the wake of that affair, stricter requirements had been introduced for NGOs wishing to enter Chad and the rules applicable to national and international adoption had been tightened up within the framework of the draft family code.
55.The Chairperson thanked the delegation of Chad for their frank and detailed replies. She informed the delegation that it could submit further information by 6 p.m. on 21 July 2008 in order for it to be taken into account in the Committee’s concluding observations.
56.Mr . Djasnabaille said that this initial meeting with the members of the Committee had made it possible to take up many important matters and the observations and concerns expressed by the Committee would be duly passed on to the Government, which would take them into account. He invited the members of the Committee to visit Chad to develop a better understanding of the actual situation and of the efforts made by the Government of Chad, which certainly needed to be intensified. Chad had high expectations for the national human rights forum due to be held in the coming months, and hoped that the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the members of the Committee would be able to take part.
57.The delegation of Chad withdrew.
The meeting rose at 6. 05 p.m.