CHAD:INTERIM ASSESSMENT OF AF WATCH LIST COUNTRIES

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 NDJAMENA 000879 SIPDIS SIPDIS ACCRA FOR USAID, NAIROBI FOR OFDA, PARIS AND LONDON FOR AFRICA WATCHERS, STATE FOR AF/C, AF/RSA AND G/TIP E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PHUM KCRM KWMN KTIP CD SUBJECT: CHAD:INTERIM ASSESSMENT OF AF WATCH LIST COUNTRIES REF: A. SECSTATE 147232 ¶B. NDJAMENA 623 ¶1. Summary. Chad has made some progress in addressing two deficiencies highlighted in the June 2007 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report on Chad, recruitment of minors in the armed forces and prosecuting traffickers. End summary. ¶2. This message responds to questions in reftel A concerning progress (or lack thereof) in addressing deficiencies highlighted in the June 2007 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report on Chad. 1) Progress in finalizing and passing draft legislation prohibiting child trafficking: -- The Government of Chad (GOC) has made some progress in the process which should lead to finalizing and passing draft legislation prohibiting child trafficking. Justice Minister Pahimi Padacke Albert was quoted in a UN news service report (dated November 1, 2007) as saying that the Judicial Reform Commission had been reactivated two months ago and was reviewing all Chadian laws in order to incorporate international conventions into the national penal code. This was confirmed by contacts at the Justice Ministry. 2) Increasing efforts to enforce trafficking by i) deploying police to investigate trafficking cases and arrest traffickers, and ii) prosecuting and convicting traffickers: -- The high-profile "Zoe's Ark/Children Rescue" case (in which six members of a French non-governmental organization (NGO) were arrested October 25 for attempting to take 103 Chadian children out of the country) has made the government more aware of the lacuna in Chadian law relating to trafficking. Nonetheless, the GOC has moved rapidly to punish those involved and to defend the rights of the children. In the absence of a specific law criminalizing trafficking in children, the six members of Zoe's Ark/Children Rescue and four Chadian collaborators were charged with fraud, abduction and attempting to change the children's civil statute. 3) Taking steps to ensure that minors are not recruited into the armed forces by i) instructing Chadian National Army (french acronym ANT) officials to stop recruitment and use of minors, ii) demobilizing minors in the ANT in collaboration with NGOs or international organizations and iii) working with international organizations to protect Chadian and Sudanese children from recruitment by rebels: -- The Government has made progress in demobilizing minors who are members of a former rebel groups (the FUC) and has also acknowledged that illegal recruitment by the ANT is a problem. -- In June 2007 the GOC signed a a protocol with UNICEF concerning the protection of children who are victims of armed conflict and their sustainable reintegration into communities. The demobilization has been carried out with the assistance of UNICEF and other international organizations. In June 2007 some 400 children associated with the rebel group FUC were demobilized (see reftel B). -- The GOC has also pledged to cooperate with international organizations to investigate allegations of minors in the ANT. At its meeting July 19 in New York, the UN Security Council's Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict heard from the Chadian Permanent Representative to the United Nations that the Minister of Defense had acknowledged the illegal recruitment and use of children in armed forces and groups by local commanders of the ANT. The Permanent Representative also outlined steps taken by the Ministry of Defense (including the reissuance of directives and field NDJAMENA 00000879 002 OF 002 visits) aimed at putting an end to those practices, to release children associated with ANT local units, and to provide those children with reintegration programs. 4) Strengthening efforts to identify and care for victims: -- The Government has cooperated with UNICEF and other NGOs which are sheltering demobilized children and providing reintegration programs. 5) Increasing efforts to raise public awareness of trafficking: -- the Zoe's Ark/Children Rescue case has received widespread and extensive TV, radio and newspaper coverage for over two weeks. The GOC has cooperated with the press and used the media to spread the message of the seriousness of the incident and its concern about international trafficking in children. TAMLYN