A/HRC/25/14
several pieces of national legislation had been enacted while others were in the process of
being adopted, such as the Personal and Family Code, the Criminal Code, the Code of
Criminal Procedure, the Civil Code, the Code of Civil Procedure, the Child Protection Code
and the Code of Conduct for Soldiers.
8.
The delegation explained that the national report was the result of a multi-agency,
participatory process. The report had been drafted by the interministerial committee to
monitor the implementation of international human rights instruments (made up of
representatives of various ministries, civil society, the National Human Rights Commission
and resource persons) and by human rights associations. It had then been adopted by the
Government.
9.
The delegation noted that the Government, in collaboration with the United Nations
Children’s Fund (UNICEF), had taken a series of actions and measures concerning children
in armed conflict. In that regard, the delegation mentioned in particular the plans to train
400 members of the contingents for Mali and the Central African Republic before the end
of the year; missions to check the age of soldiers, conducted jointly by the Government and
the United Nations, in security and defence zones; a programme for family reunification
and the reintegration of children withdrawn from armed forces and armed groups, and the
appointment of a focal point in the Ministry of Defence for the implementation of the plan
of action.
10.
With regard to trafficking in children, the delegation stated that there was no
trafficking as such in Chad but that some situations that were tantamount to trafficking
were punished if they came to the attention of the government authorities (for example, the
Zoé’s Ark case). The delegation also mentioned that an order providing for the
establishment of an interministerial technical committee to combat trafficking in persons
had been issued on 17 October 2013. The Committee would be responsible, inter alia, for
monitoring compliance with obligations in relation to trafficking in persons, proposing
amendments to national legislation to bring it into line with international instruments and
coordinating the activities of the relevant departments.
11.
The delegation also reported that a draft decree regulating child labour was in the
process of being adopted to supplement and clarify the provisions on the protection of
children contained in the Labour Code.
12.
The delegation recalled that the duration of police custody was 48 hours, and that it
could be extended to 72 hours by the prosecutor. In order to protect citizens’ rights, the
draft Code of Criminal Procedure provided that legal assistance should be available during
that period and that pretrial detention was 6 months for ordinary offences and 1 year for
serious offences.
13.
The delegation noted that press offences had been decriminalized under the Act of
31 November 2010. Freedom of the press was guaranteed by a number of legal and
institutional mechanisms introduced by the Government. Journalists were, however,
expected to practise their profession without inciting citizens to hatred or violence.
14.
With regard to women, the delegation noted that the Government had taken a
number of actions to strengthen the protection of women’s rights. For example, a national
gender policy and a national strategy to combat gender-based violence had been approved.
The delegation also reported that the Government had established penalties for the
perpetrators of violence against women in articles 325 ff. of the draft Criminal Code.
Penalties for the perpetrators of female genital mutilation had also been provided for in that
draft. It was specified, however, that female genital mutilation was practised by only a few
ethnic groups in Chad, and that the Government had wished to introduce penalties in its
national legislation in order to comply with its international obligations. The delegation also
mentioned a number of measures taken for women, including a national campaign to
4
GE.14-10021
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