A/HRC/42/42/Add.1 Right to self-determination 81. The Working Group stresses that the presence of mercenaries and foreign fighters and the range of armed actors in conflicts affecting Chad continue to undermine the right of Chadians to self-determination. Mercenaries and foreign fighters are likely to reframe and radicalize the overall aims of the insurgencies and contribute to their fragmentation and duration.5 They are thus able to influence domestic insurgencies in ways that may ultimately undermine the right of self-determination. These foreign armed actors often bring in new, radical and unlawful tactics that encourage greater violence towards the civilian population. 6 States that are threatened by the activities of these foreign actors are required to be vigilant in guarding their territories and need also to rely on the effective collaboration of other States whose citizens are engaged in such activities. This, in turn, may complicate mediation and negotiations to end the conflict. V. Measures 82. The heightened security concerns and the potential threat of armed conflict gripping Chad, along with the myriad of armed actors involved, have been a priority focus for the Government. New laws have been adopted to address these threats and policies have been put in place to strengthen security and foster development. 83. While human rights violations have been committed by several armed groups, mercenaries and foreign fighters, prosecutions have mainly focused on Boko Haram insurgents. There were no prosecutions concerning mercenaries and there were no concrete data on perpetrators who were mercenaries. Most foreign armed elements who were prosecuted were affiliated with Boko Haram and most of those were prosecuted under the 2015 anti-terrorism law. Many of the prosecutions also involved perpetrators linked to the 2015 attacks in N’Djamena. It is clear that still more needs to be done to investigate and bring to justice mercenary-related actors. 84. The authorities informed the Working Group that it was difficult to gather evidence on cases related to mercenaries, and there was a need to train and upskill professionals in the law enforcement and criminal justice sectors. There is a shortage of experts and professionals overall, including for dealing with terrorism and transnational crimes relating to mercenarism and foreign fighters. Although there is a special judicial pool for dealing with terrorist crimes, there is still a lack of skilled lawyers and judicial officers to address the backlog of cases involving armed actors. There is also an insufficient number of skilled personnel in the field of forensic medicine and psychosocial care, who are often required to fully assess cases involving armed actors. 85. The Working Group notes, however, important measures that the Government has adopted in order to address the security threats and challenges related to armed groups. At the regional level, Chad joined the Joint Force of the Group of Five for the Sahel, an initiative also involving Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania and the Niger, with the objective of coordinating and collaborating on a strategy to counter terrorism and armed groups and combat human trafficking and transnational organized crime. The Joint Force provides support in different capacities, including military support through Operation Barkhane. It is headquartered in Chad, with a deployment of several thousand military personnel to member States. In its resolution 2359 (2017), the Security Council underlined the primary responsibility of the Group of Five for the Sahel States to ensure the protection of civilians in their respective territories in accordance with their obligations under international law, and the need for the operations of the Joint Force to be conducted in full compliance with 5 6 See Kristin M. Bakke, “Help wanted? The mixed record of foreign fighters in domestic insurgencies”, International Security, vol. 38, No. 4 (2014); and Ben Rich and Dara Conduit, “The impact of Jihadist foreign fighters on indigenous secular-nationalist causes: contrasting Chechnya and Syria”, Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, vol. 38, No. 2 (2014). See Jeni Mitchell, “The contradictory effects of ideology on Jihadist war fighting: the Bosnian precedent”, Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, vol. 31, No. 9 (2015). 13