A/HRC/12/50 Chad to shed light on the disappearance of Ibni Oumar Mahamat Saleh and to implement the recommendations of the commission of enquiry into the events of 2008. 467. Human Rights Watch welcomed the Government’s support for the recommendations addressing the recruitment of child soldiers, and urged Chad to keep the Council informed on the steps taken to ensure the prompt and complete demobilization and reintegration of all child soldiers, and to prevent any further recruitment. It expressed concern regarding continued restrictions imposed on UNICEF access to the Direction general de services de sécurité des institutions de l’État. It urged Chad to take all necessary measures to protect women and girls from sexual violence, to submit a report to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, and to extend a standing invitation to all special procedures. 468. The International Human Rights Association of American Minorities commended the decision of Chad to move the Oure Cassoni refugee camp away from the Sudanese border. It also commended the progress made on the demobilization of child soldiers. Freedom of speech continued to be curtailed, democratic values continued to be eroded, nepotism continued at all levels of power, social mobility was extremely limited and opposition leaders were frequently arrested. It stated that a constitutional amendment in 2005 allowed the president to serve an unlimited term. It expressed support for several recommendations of the Working Group report: accession to the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture, to ratify the International Convention on the protection of all persons from enforced disappearance, to achieve poverty reduction target and to invite the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions. 4. Concluding remarks of the State under review 469. The delegation of Chad expressed its deep satisfaction at the recognition by Member States and observers, of the very difficult situation Chad was presently facing and of the efforts that the Government was making to improve the human rights situation in the country. 470. With regard to the interventions made by some non-governmental organizations, Chad noted that their information seemed to be outdated. The Ministry of Human Rights and the Promotion of Liberties was responsible for the protection of freedom of expression and for the free circulation of ideas and individuals. No journalist or human rights defender was currently imprisoned or persecuted. Chad also recalled that, in 2005, immediately after his appointment, the Minister for Human Rights and the Promotion of Liberties declared to the media that he could not be Minister for Human Rights in a country where journalists and human rights defenders were imprisoned. Should non-governmental organizations have specific names to provide the Chad delegation with, action would be taken immediately to ensure that human rights defenders, journalists and the civil society at large could work without interference. 471. On the issue of disappearances, in February 2008, an international commission of enquiry, convened by the Government, submitted a report. The Government subsequently set up a technical subcommittee composed of magistrates, police officers and inspectors to ensure due consideration of the commission’s findings and to clarify the way in which those events had happened. The Government did not tolerate patterns of impunity and had made available to the judiciary all necessary resources to carry out due judicial proceedings. Hearings were still ongoing and justice would ultimately be done. 472. The disappearance of Ibn Oumar Mahamat Saleh, like many other cases, was being dealt with by the Government seriously, and investigations on that case were ongoing. It was worth recalling however, that, in February 2008, most of the capital city was under the 133

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