A/HRC/42/42/Add.1 VII. Conclusions and recommendations 105. The Working Group remains concerned about the ongoing activities of armed actors affecting the country, including mercenaries and foreign fighters. Unless the conflicts in the region and neighbouring countries are resolved, the risk of destabilization in Chad will always exist. Furthermore, the combination of weak State institutions, dire poverty and transborder criminal activities provides fertile ground for mercenarism and foreign fighter activities to thrive. In that regard, the Working Group makes the following recommendations, intended to complement the important initiatives mentioned throughout the present report. 106. The Working Group recommends that the Government of Chad: (a) Accede to the International Convention against the Recruitment, Use, Financing and Training of Mercenaries, as this makes participation in mercenary activities an offence of mandatory universal jurisdiction, which means that an offender must, unless extradited, be tried by any State in which he or she is found; (b) Accede to the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment; (c) Strengthen efforts under existing international regional frameworks to assist with investigations, exchange of information and mutual legal assistance in the investigation and prosecution of mercenaries, foreign fighters and armed elements; (d) Enforce robust border management with neighbouring countries and develop stronger cooperation to combat transnational criminal activities, including those carried out by mercenaries, foreign fighters and armed groups and the trafficking of illicit drugs, arms and other weapons and persons. (e) Prioritize and strengthen the protection of civilians in conflict areas, such as the Lake Chad region, and where insurgencies are occurring; (f) Strengthen protection for communities at risk of violence from communal clashes with pastoralists; (g) Strengthen protection in internally displaced camps and refugee camps against the recruitment of individuals to armed groups and against sexual and genderbased violence and human rights violations against residents; (h) Continue efforts to eliminate the recruitment of children into armed groups and to reintegrate them into society and to identify, rehabilitate and reintegrate children who were recruited to or associated with armed groups; (i) Provide support to strengthen rehabilitation, psychosocial support and integration measures for victims of armed elements, including those who were associated with armed groups but who have surrendered or repented; (j) Develop policies to combat sexual and gender-based violence wherever it exists, and provide the necessary support and care for victims, particularly women and girls; (k) Bring perpetrators of human rights violations, including mercenaries and foreign fighters, to justice and set up remedy and reparation mechanisms for victims; (l) Train and build the capacity of the judiciary and judicial officers, including in the area of human rights, in order to combat impunity for human rights violations; (m) Ensure that suspects who are alleged to be terrorists or armed actors are tried in accordance with international human rights standards. Due process and fair trial guarantees must be respected; (n) Ensure that human rights violations are properly recorded in documentation that can be used for the prosecution of perpetrators; 17