Chad process "dead in the water"

The director of national radio station, Halime Assadia Ali, examines the destroyed radio's archives department in N'Djamena February 16, 2008. Decades of important political and cultural records were lost after a rebel assault on the capital [REUTERS/Stephanie Hancock, courtesy www.alertnet.org]

As concern mounts over Chad, CAFOD calls on EU member states to re-assess their support for the country's President Deby

CAFOD has called on member states of the European Union, especially France, to look closer to home at their own role in Chad, currently under a state of emergency following a rebellion at the start of February.

Recent weeks have seen politically-motivated arrests and disappearances of civilians who share the same ethnic identity as the rebels, bringing into serious question the unconditional support given to Chadian President Idriss Deby by the international community.

Political solution

An agreement - the "August Accord" - was signed with Deby in August 2007 to organise new elections in 2009. France and the US underwrote that accord.

But now the French government and European Community are struggling to find a political solution to the current crisis.

The unrest could have have serious consequences - not only for the civilian population in Chad but for the stability of the region and for any hope of a resolution to the crisis in neighbouring Darfur.

CAFOD's humanitarian policy adviser Stephanie Brigden says: "The conclusion from today’s EU External Relations Council demonstrates how European Foreign Ministers continue to pay lip service to a so-called political process for Chad which is already dead in the water.

"President Deby is using the current state of emergency in Chad to rid the country of legitimate opposition.

"The EU’s continued commitment to the August Accord, when key partners to the agreement have been arrested and detained is, at best, naïve and, at worst, a sign of support to a government committing serious violations of fundamental human rights."

The EU force mandated to provide protection for civilians in Eastern Chad is not a panacea to the current crisis - in fact CAFOD believes a force made up predominantly of French troops may even make the situation worse.

Rebel groups have said that they will regard the force as a belligerent party to the conflict.

CAFOD believes the EU should publicly counter claims made by the Chadian Government that the goal of EU forces is to protect President Deby’s regime - otherwise there is every likelihood the neutrality of the force will be in question.

This will put the civilian population at risk and could further jeopardise the ability of the international humanitarian community to provide aid.

For further information or interviews, please contact: Nana Anto-Awuakye on: 07799 477 541 or 020 7095-5560 or email: nanto-awuakye@cafod.org.uk

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