HE Idriss Déby Itno
President of Chad
Présidence de la République
BP 74
N’Djamena
Chad
Excellency
I would like to express my concern regarding the serious human rights violations committed against children in your country, which are being used as soldiers and porters and messengers, by officers of the Chadian National Army and by opposition armed groups.
Children aged between 13 and 17 are being used directly in combat while children as young as 10 are used as porters and messengers.
This situation seriously violates these children’s human rights, compromises their childhood and their right to leave without fear of violence. Also contradicts Chad’s international obligations under the Convention of the Rights of the Child (CRC) and its Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict.
Therefore, I urge Your Excellency to guarantee the end of the recruitment and use of children in conflict, to carry an independent and reliable investigation into the human rights violations of these children and for those suspected of committing such human rights violations, be brought to justice.
I also urge you to ensure effective demobilization and reintegration of these children.
Respectfully,