United States Department of State

Chad: Human Rights United States Department of State

Publisher Marketing: Chad is a centralized republic in which the executive branch dominates the legislature and judiciary. In April 2011 President Idriss Deby Itno, leader of the Patriotic Salvation Movement (MPS), was elected to a fourth term with 83.6 percent of valid votes. Major opposition figures boycotted the presidential election, which was marked by low voter turnout. In legislative elections held in February 2011, the ruling MPS won 118 of the National Assembly's 188 seats. International observers deemed both elections to be legitimate and credible. Authorities failed at times to maintain effective control over the security forces. Security forces committed human rights abuses. Following an alleged coup plot on May 1, security forces shot and killed unarmed civilians and arrested and detained members of parliament, military officers, former rebels, and others. At year's end approximately four of those arrested remained in detention, sometimes incommunicado, on charges of conspiracy and attempting to destabilize the government. International nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) criticized the government for its repression of criticism, arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances, and suspension of due process. The most significant human rights problems were security force abuse, including torture; harsh prison conditions; and discrimination and violence against women and children. Other human rights abuses included arbitrary arrest and detention, lengthy pretrial detention, denial of fair public trial, executive influence on the judiciary, and property seizures. The government restricted freedom of speech, press, assembly, and movement. The MPS party dominated the political process, and government corruption remained a problem. Refugees were abused. Child abuse, including female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C), occurred, as did forced and early marriage and the sexual exploitation of children. Trafficking in persons, particularly children, was a problem. Interethnic discrimination and discrimination against persons with disabilities and persons with HIV/AIDS occurred. Child labor and forced labor, including by children, were problems. The government seldom took steps to prosecute or punish officials who committed abuses, whether in the security services or elsewhere in the government, and impunity was a problem.