A/HRC/42/42/Add.1 from 1979 to 1986 and from 2005 to 2010. These conflicts have severely hampered the development of State institutions and the economy. 16. Armed factions were formed in the course of these insurgencies, many in defiance of the current Government, and continue to be serious threats to the country’s stability. The most recent civil war was also greatly affected by the armed conflict in Darfur, which resulted in thousands of refugees fleeing to Chad. Both Chad and the Sudan have since made efforts to end hostilities, once with an accord in 2008 that was signed in Senegal, and again in 2010 through peace talks in Khartoum. They have also deployed their national forces to monitor the situation along their borders, in the hope of curbing further insurgencies. 17. The armed conflicts in the Central African Republic in 2003 and 2013 also led to an influx of thousands of refugees into Chad, some of whom met the delegation of the Working Group at the Gaoui camp. 18. The spread of armed groups in Libya and the volatile security situation there, ongoing since 2011, resulted in the Government of Chad having to close its borders with Libya, in the hope of mitigating the adverse effect on its home territory. Chadians have reportedly travelled in numbers to Libya to engage in the conflict there, and to be recruited as mercenaries. The recruitment of mercenaries reportedly dates back to the regime of the former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, who had hired Chadians to bolster his military operations. 19. In the Lake Chad region, bordering Cameroon, the Niger and Nigeria, Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’Awati Wal-Jihad (Boko Haram) has instigated violent attacks, including in lake communities in Chadian territory, that have resulted in grievous human rights violations, mass displacement and a growing refugee population. Currently, Chad hosts one of the largest populations of refugees in the region. 20. The region is known to have particularly high levels of poverty and unemployment and dire levels of malnutrition, which have been exacerbated by Boko Haram’s attacks and killings. 21. For Chad, with its struggling economy, the cumulative impact of these conflicts has been severely debilitating. The Government has had to place urgent priority, including through budgetary allocations, on security measures and on combating insurgencies and armed rebellions. The socioeconomic challenges have been further compounded by the humanitarian crises caused by these conflicts. 22. The Working Group notes that these complex and asymmetrical conflicts create fertile ground for mercenarism to thrive. In discussions with the delegation, government representatives and other interlocutors expressed a belief that mercenaries and foreign fighters were interspersed among the armed actors affecting Chad. The Working Group notes the importance of understanding the profiles of those actors, and the root causes that have prompted them to join or engage in the conflicts. C. Legal and institutional framework 23. Chad has made various changes to its national laws to strengthen the legal framework to protect human rights. The Constitution prioritizes international conventions that have been ratified over domestic laws (art. 221 of the version in force at the time of the visit). If an international instrument contains a clause deemed contrary to the Constitution, the Constitution must be amended before ratification can be authorized. 24. Chad has ratified or acceded to, inter alia, the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 and Additional Protocols I and II thereto, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the Convention related to the Status of Refugees and the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. It has also ratified the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime. 25. In 2006, Chad ratified the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, thus accepting the duty to cooperate under the mandate of the Court for the investigation of crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. On a regional level, it has ratified the 4