The 77-page report, “‘Worse Than Hell’: Death and Torture at Chad’s Koro Toro Prison,” documents in detail the detention of 72 people, several of whom were tortured or ill-treated at Koro Toro following the October 20 protests in the Chadian capital, N’Djamena, and in several other towns, to protest the two years extension of the transitional government. Security forces fired live ammunition at protesters. Hundreds were then taken to Koro Toro, a high security prison about 600 kilometers away. The transition ended in May 2024 with the election of Gen. Mahamat Idriss Déby.
The United States and Chad’s Hissène Habré 1982-1990
This report describes how France, and especially the United States, were pivotal in bringing Habré to power, although signs of his brutality were already evident. The two countries saw Habré as a bulwark against the expansionist designs of Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi, whose forces were occupying northern Chad. Human Rights Watch details how both the United States and France continued to provide Habré’s government with critical support, even as it committed widespread and systematic human rights violations.
Repatriating the Displaced in the Context of Conflict in Eastern Chad
This 47-page report documents abuses against people who have been returning to their villages from camps for displaced persons in southeastern Chad. The Chadian government should work to improve security in rural areas where many of the displaced are returning.
The Habré case provides a golden opportunity to strike a blow against the scourge of impunity. Habré is accused of massive crimes, which are well documented in the files of his own political police. Chad supports the prosecution. The UN Committee Against Torture has enjoined Senegal to prosecute or extradite Habré. The African Union has mandated Senegal “to prosecute and ensure that Hissène Habré is tried, on behalf of Africa, by a competent Senegalese court with guarantees for a fair trial.”
This 108-page report is based on three weeks of on-the-ground research. It documents the human rights abuses and breaches of the laws of war committed in northern CAR by both rebel groups and the government forces, and also documents attacks by banditry groups in the northwest known as zaraguinas, who often kidnap children for ransom.
This 46-page report documents how the Chadian army, its allied paramilitary militias and rebel forces have used and recruited child soldiers in both northern Chad and along the eastern border with Sudan’s Darfur region.
An increased international presence in eastern Chad is urgently needed to protect civilians threatened by worsening insecurity and brutal militia violence. Civilians in eastern Chad have long suffered the consequences of living across the border from Sudan’s troubled western region of Darfur, but violence in Chad has recently taken on its own momentum.
In this paper, Human Rights Watch noted that Senegal had not even passed the legislation needed to try Habré. Human Rights Watch called on the African Union to name a special envoy to help Senegal prepare Habré’s trial.
Militia Attacks and Ethnic Targeting of Civilians in Eastern Chad
This 70-page report documents a drastic deterioration in the human rights situation in eastern Chad, where more than 300 civilians were killed and at least 17,000 people displaced in militia violence in November 2006 alone. In most instances, civilians were targeted on the basis of ethnic identity.
This paper documents a drastic deterioration in the human rights situation on the Chad side of the Chad-Sudan border, where Sudanese government-backed “Janjaweed” militias raid at will, and Darfur rebels opposed to Khartoum forcibly recruit Sudanese refugees, including children, to serve as rebel fighters.
This paper examines Senegal’s legal obligations as well as the different options for bringing Mr. Habré to justice. It notes that—whatever the outcome of the A.U. review—Senegal is under an obligation to prosecute or to extradite Hissène Habré. It concludes that Mr. Habré’s extradition to Belgium is the most efficient, realistic, and timely option for ensuring that Mr.
Submission to the Committee of Eminent African Jurists
This paper examines Senegal’s legal obligations as well as the different options for bringing Mr. Habré to justice. It notes that—whatever the outcome of the A.U. review—Senegal is under an obligation to prosecute or to extradite Hissène Habré.
This report documents an alarming rise in attacks against civilians in Chad by Sudanese government-backed Janjaweed militias and Chadian rebel groups. The Janjaweed and Chadian rebel forces operate from bases in Sudanese government-controlled areas of Darfur. Sudanese government troops and helicopter gunships have at times supported these cross-border attacks in eastern Chad.
