Human rights in Chad have been described as "poor"; for example, since 1972, Freedom House has designated the country as "Not Free."[1][2] Chad received a score of 7 for political rights and 6 for civil liberties (with 1 being the most free, 7 being the least free).[2]
In their annual report from 2007, Amnesty International emphasized the pervasive nature of sexual violence and discrimination against women resulting from incursions by the Sudanese Janjaweed, stating that "the widespread insecurity in eastern Chad had particularly severe consequences for women, who suffered grave human rights abuses, including rape, during attacks on villages."[4] Female genital mutilation, while technically illegal, is still widely practiced.[2]
Harassment of journalists and human rights activists has also been documented,[4] as well as the use of child soldiers by Chadian security forces, by various human rights groups.[1][5][6]
Transparency International has ranked Chad as one of the most corrupt nations in the world. In 2007[needs update], it scored 1.8 out of 10 on the Corruption Perceptions Index (with 10 being the least corrupt). Only Tonga, Uzbekistan, Haiti, Iraq, Myanmar, and Somalia scored lower.[7] Critics of former PresidentIdriss Déby accused him of cronyism and favoring his own tribe, the Zaghawa.[8]
Déby's re-election in May 2006—in which he won a third term—was boycotted by the opposition, who denounced the results as fraudulent.[9] The previous election, in 2001, was similarly viewed as fraudulent by the opposition parties, although a team of foreign observers said that polling had taken place "without major problems or intimidation".[10][11][12]
1.^Note that the "Year" signifies the "Year covered". Therefore, the information for the year marked 2008 is from the report published in 2009, and so on.
3.^The 1982 report covers the year 1981 and the first half of 1982, and the following 1984 report covers the second half of 1982 and the whole of 1983. In the interest of simplicity, these two aberrant "year and a half" reports have been split into three year-long reports through interpolation.
References
12345"Chad" Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 2006. United States Department of State. Accessed on September 4, 2007.
123Chad (2007) Freedom House. Accessed on September 4, 2007.
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