14 February 2008
analysis
Washington, DC — "The Chadian civil war is often described as a "spillover" from Darfur. That is a simplification. Darfur's war actually began as a spillover from Chad more than twenty years ago and the two conflicts have been entangled ever since." - Alex De Waal
In the aftermath of fighting in Chad's capital, launched by Sudanese-backed rebel groups, relief agencies are warning of new humanitarian risks both to Sudanese refugees and to Chadians displaced within the country. Further deployment of a European Union protection force mandated by the United Nations is uncertain, and arrests of opposition leaders by the government of Idriss Deby indicate that the Chadian leader is taking advantage of the crisis to suppress even peaceful opposition.
On February 4, the United Nations Security Council condemned the rebel attacks on Chad's capital, and applauded an effort by the African Union to promote talks between the rebels and Chad's government. But the prospects of a new political settlement seem slim.
This AfricaFocus Bulletin contains calls for international action from a coalition of international human rights groups and from Human Rights Watch, as well as a background article on the crisis by Alex De Waal of Justice Africa.
For previous AfricaFocus Bulletins on Chad and additional background links, visit http://www.africafocus.org/country/chad.php
Joint Statement on the Crisis in Chad
February 11, 2008
The following is a joint statement on the crisis in Chad from the ENOUGH Project, the Save Darfur Coalition, and the Genocide Intervention Network:
The outcome of the crisis in Chad remains uncertain, but the peril for civilians in Chad and Darfur is enormous. A low-intensity, festering civil conflict between the Chadian government and a disparate group of rebels exploded into violent confrontation in the capital N'Djamena. Thousands of refugees fled the city, and the threat of renewed violence continues. The Sudanese government, which is responsible for genocide in Darfur, supports the rebels trying to overthrow Chad's government because it wants to block the deployment of European Union peacekeepers to Eastern Chad. Sudan's ruling party not only threatens its own citizens, which it has destroyed in great numbers, it is a menace to the entire region. It will remain a menace until the rest of the world makes the cost of doing so too steep.
Therefore, the Save Darfur Coalition, the ENOUGH Project, and the Genocide Intervention Network make the following policy recommendations:
The U.S., France and UK should work with China and Russia to introduce immediately a UN Security Council resolution authorizing targeted sanctions on senior Sudanese officials responsible for supporting the overthrow of a neighboring sovereign government, for obstructing the deployment of international protection forces in Chad and Darfur, and for continuing to promote violence in Darfur.
The U.S., UK, France, and China, as leading members of the UN Security Council, and in coordination with the UN, the AU, and the broader international community, should work together to ensure that the UNAMID peacekeeping mission in Darfur and the EUFOR and MINURCAT peacekeeping missions in Chad/CAR are immediately and fully deployed.
The U.S., France, UK and China should use this opportunity to form an international "Quartet" to work with the UN and AU to promote an end to the interconnected conflicts in Chad and Sudan.
EU Should Deploy Troops Now to Protect Civilians
Human Rights Watch (Washington, DC)
Press Release
12 February 2008
The European Union should urgently move forward with its planned deployment of troops to protect civilians in eastern Chad, Human Rights Watch said today. Recent fighting between Chadian government forces and insurgent groups has left tens of thousands of civilians at grave risk and has paralyzed the delivery of humanitarian aid.
EUFOR, a European Union civilian-protection mission mandated by the UN Security Council to protect civilians in Chad, has already deployed 150 soldiers to Chad. Further deployments have been delayed by the recent fighting, however. EUFOR is mandated to provide protection for more than 400,000 Sudanese refugees and Chadian internally displaced persons in eastern Chad.
Nowhere is the need for EUFOR more urgent than in the Gu‚r‚da area of eastern Chad, where 12,000 Sudanese refugees have been living in desperate conditions since February 10, when they fled West Darfur after attacks by Sudanese government military aircraft and "Janjaweed" militias. Recently arrived Sudanese refugees are concentrated in the border village of Birak, a remote location where the Chadian government presence is minimal and numerous armed groups are active, including some that have attacked civilians in the past.
"The refugees who recently fled from Darfur to Chad are in a volatile and dangerous region with little food and no one to protect them," said Georgette Gagnon, acting Africa director at Human Rights Watch. "The European Union is mandated to protect these refugees, but it needs to deploy its troops to Chad immediately."
In addition to those who have recently fled Darfur for Birak, refugees are also at risk in two UN-supervised camps in the Gu‚r‚da area, Kounoungo and Mile, with a combined population of 30,000.
Paramilitary groups operate in both camps and have actively recruited refugees, reportedly including children. In April 2007, refugees at Kounoungo camp told Human Rights Watch about violent abuses by Chadian rebel groups operating in the area, including attempted rapes. In December 2007, Human Rights Watch received reports of violent abuses by armed groups against refugees at Mile camp, including rape.
"At some camps, Chadian police responsible for protecting refugees have been unable to carry out their duties because of intimidation and death threats from armed groups," said Gagnon. "The continuing risk to civilians is great, and there is an urgent need for EUFOR to deploy immediately."
In addition to its civilian protection role, EUFOR is mandated by the UN Security Council to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid, which has been severely compromised by growing insecurity. In late January 2008, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) began to evacuate national and international staff in response to escalating violence in the country. Since that time, Chadian rebel activity has paralyzed road travel to eastern Chad, cutting off food supplies to 400,000 refugees and displaced persons living in camps. In February, UNHCR issued an urgent plea for the establishment of an air corridor to transport humanitarian aid between eastern Chad, the capital N'Djam‚na, and the wider region.
Some EU member states have expressed concern that EUFOR will not be a neutral force in the conflict because France, which provides military assistance to the Chadian government, is contributing some 2,100 troops out of the 3,700-strong force. They have suggested that the force would not be able to steer clear of internal Chadian politics. EUFOR officials maintain, however, that they would remain strictly neutral in the conflict between the Chadian government and the rebels.
"EUFOR is a European force operating under a UN mandate, and it is not supposed to take sides," said Gagnon. "Troop commitments from a broader range of EU members would help provide EUFOR with the support it needs to protect civilians."
Human Rights Watch expressed concern for the safety of recently arrived Sudanese refugees in Birak and called on EUFOR to consider establishing a field office in the embattled Gu‚r‚da area of eastern Chad.
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