Republic of Chad
Representation of the Republic of Chad before the First Committee of the General Assembly on Disarmament and International Security
School: Tecnológico de Monterrey, Campus Ciudad de México
Committee: General Assembly First Committee - Disarmament and International Security
Topic: Towards a Global Arms Trade Treaty
Country: Republic of Chad
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Official Name: Republic of Chad “République du Tchad / Jumhuriyat Tshad “
Type of Government: Republic
Capital: N'Djamena
Chief of State: President Lt. Gen. Idriss Deby Itno
Head of Government: Prime Minister Emmanuel Nadingar
International Affiliations: ACP, AfDB, AU, BDEAC, CEMAC, FAO, FZ, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Interpol, IOC, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, NAM, OIC, OIF, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNOCI, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
Currency: Communauté Financière Africaine Franc (XAF)
GDP: $19.69 billion USD
GDP Per capita: $1900 USD
Area: 1.284 million sq Km.
Population: 10,975,648 inhabitants
Official Language: French (official), Arabic (official), Sara (in south); more than 120 different languages and dialects.
Religion: Muslim 53.1%, Catholic 20.1%, Protestant 14.2%, animist 7.3%, other 0.5%, unknown 1.7%, atheist 3.1%.
Military Expenditures: 1.7% of GDP
Military Branches: Armed Forces: Chadian National Army (Armee Nationale du Tchad, ANT), Chadian Air Force (Force Aerienne Tchadienne, FAT), Gendarmerie.
International Disputes and Conflicts: Since 2003, armed militia groups and the Sudanese military have driven hundreds of thousands of Darfur residents into neighboring Chad. Chad wishes to be a helpful mediator in resolving the Darfur conflict, and in 2010 established a joint border monitoring force with Sudan, which has helped to reduce cross-border banditry and violence. However, border delimitation is also a problem with other neighbors. Only Nigeria and Cameroon heeded the Lake Chad Comission’s admonition to ratify the delimitation treaty, which also includes the Chad-Niger and Niger-Nigeria boundaries.
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School: Tecnológico de Monterrey, Campus Ciudad de México
Committee: XGeneral Assembly First Committee - Disarmament and International Security
Topic: Towards a Global Arms Trade Treaty
Country: Republic of Chad
Document issued by the Chadian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
In Africa, as well as in various parts of the world, widespread availability of weapons and ammunition has led to human suffering. War, repression, crime and terrorism, among others, resulting from the proliferation of arms suppose a grave violation to the United Nations Charter and the Constitutive Act of the African Union. Such transfers can destabilize security in the region, enable the violation of Security Council resolutions on the matter and contribute to Human Rights abuse. An important challenge to our nation’s future, since development is disrupted anywhere conflict and high levels of violence are experienced.
It is urgent to stress the fact that the United Nations (UN) is confronted with lax controls on weapons trade in many places around the world. Although an eclectic set of national and regional control measures on arms transfers exist, the absence of an efficient and effective international framework for their enforcement has kept countries from adopting a binding stance towards the issue. Following the principles that promote such urgent international cooperation, the government of the Republic of Chad reaffirms its commitment towards the discussion of an arms treaty.
In June 2006, Chad adopted the African Common Position towards the Review Conference on the UN Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Erradicate the Illicit Trade of Small Arms and Light Weapons in all its aspects. As a result, Chad has implemented successful voluntary firearm surrender schemes in order to reduce illicit firearms in circulation.
The Republic of Chad is directly affected by the discussed matter. In 2008, a coalition of rebels assaulted the country’s capital city, N’Djamena. During the assault, hundreds of soldiers and civilians died in the course of two days. Such incident prompted President Idriss Déby to develop an alliance with the French, whom on February 4, 2008 got the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to authorize the shipping of weapons into the country. Also, the European Union (EU) sent in 2,500 troops under UN mandate to protect civilians. In this scenario, further aggravated by incoming population flows from Sudan along with armed groups, defensive and offensive causes represent the arguments which back up arms trade, both legally and illegally.
Chad faces several problems with firearms possession due to the lack of concrete laws against it, which give it an openly permissive status. Chad’s guiding gun control legislation is Judicial Decree No. 26/PG INT of October 28, 1968 considering the import, transit, sale and possession of firearms and ammunition in Chad’s territory; along with Decree No. 226 of August 1st, 1969 on the modalities for applying the Decree No. 26/PG INT already stated. An overall right to private gun ownership is not guaranteed by such acts of law.
Chad is a country with a low rate of registered arms ownership. According to the International Firearm Injury Prevention and Policy, Chad’s estimated number of civilians who own guns is 109,000, almost 1,1% of its total population. Moreover, the same report estimates Chad as the 149th country out of 179 in the rate of private gun ownership. However, such statistics contrast with 57,665 reported firearms by the Chadian Defense Forces. As in many other countries, the manufacture, possession and trade of small arms or of its components is only lawful when carried out with governmental authorisation.
The Republic of Chad does not allow private possession of war weaponry, fully automatic arms, or semi-automatic assault arms, although handguns such as pistols or revolvers are allowed under license. However, when requesting a license, it is not necessary to provide a specific reason to own a firearm. License firearm owners are only permitted to own two hunting firearms, plus one rifle. Chad requires records from every step in the process of arm trading such as numbers sold, storaged, manufactured, etc. In spite of Chad’s regulations towards firearms, the government does not have the needed technology to track each gun, fingerprinting, or complete any trace and track procedure.
Chad’s exports of small arms, according to the report in 2008, amounts to US$1,438 and small arms import is US$9,288. Moreover, according to several reports, Chad’s level of firearm and ammunition smuggling is quite moderate; nevertheless, arms brokers are not yet regulated by law, which leads to arms black market and hardly the government may have valuable information from it. Chad imports war machinery mainly from Ukraine, France, Israel, Bulgaria, China, and a lesser amount from Russia and South Africa.
The situation of arms in Chad, had not had an overall important place until the last decade. From 2004 to 2008, weapons imports increased five times in relation to the same previous period, being Serbia and France the most important suppliers. One explanation could be the support to rebel groups in Darfur (also receiving help from Eritrea, and the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya), that Chad supported sending equipment and arms. But according to the studies of AEFJN (Africa Europe Faith and Justice Network) from 2008 to 2009 exports of conventional arms from Chad, decreased almost eight times. So, we can see that Chad has reduced the flow of such trades.
In November 2010, as a member of the United Nations Standing Advisory Committee on Security Questions in Central Africa (UNSAC), Chad adopted the Central Africa Convention for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons, their ammunition, parts and components that can be used for different purposes such as manufacture, repair, and assembly, known as the ‘Kinshasa Convention’, which is a legally binding multilateral treaty. Chad signed it in September 22, 2011 among other countries such as Angola, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda. Nevertheless, the ratification process has not yet been accomplished. The Kinshasa Convention seeks for a small arms control and disarmament carried under the United Nations framework. Also, it seeks cohesion among the eleven parties after they have had problems among them by creating confidence on small arms control.
On March 16, 2011, eleven member States of UNSAC, namely Angola, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Rwanda and Sao Tome and Principe adopted the Sao Tome Declaration. The Declaration was adopted by consensus following extensive debate on the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) process within the framework of the 32nd ministerial meeting of UNSAC. With the Sao Tome Declaration, Central Africa becomes one of the African sub-regions to have harmonized its views on the scope, parameters and implementation of a future ATT. Its member States evoked their individual national priorities and concerns with the unchecked flows of weapons which have seriously affected human security and development in the region over the past decades. The Sao Tome Declaration takes into account the Central African particularities and challenges in the fields of human rights, humanitarian law and security, as well as the issue of weapons circulation
The urgency to regulate small arms and light weapons (SALW) is grounded in the alarmingly high number of deaths occurring not only in the Republic of Chad but around the globe. To ensure the proposed ATT’s efficiency and positive outcome, it is vital to:
- Stress the urgency of a binding nature of the resulting document which may be complemented with existing legislation about arms and ammunition trade, such as the Kinshasa Convention concerning the situation of the Republic of Chad.
- Build precise criteria, both globally and regionally, for assessing the transfer of weapons which must include: import, export, transit, transshipment, transport, brokerage, licensing, re-export, transfers, leases, loans, transfers and donations; thus establishing a comprehensive image of the situation at a regional and global scale.
- Take decisions on arms exports by granting export licenses to companies, traders and brokers and by doing an internal assessment when government-owned weapons are involved.
- Tackle arms imports through the strengthening of national law enforcement agencies working in the borders and thorough close cooperation with international organizations and surrounding States.
- Ensure governments exercise both sovereignty and responsibility in their decisions regarding arms transfers. National and international legislation must ensure that any regulating measures do not exacerbate conflict or lead to violations of international humanitarian law and human rights law.
- Stresses the importance of civil society organizations (CSO) in the call for the global regulation of conventional arms. CSO’s are called to play a major role in the discussion and enactment of an ATT.
The Republic of Chad, as stated in the Sao Tome Declaration, reiterates its commitment towards the respect of Human Rights and international humanitarian law, the peaceful settlement of disputes, the right of States to individual and collective self-defense, the ban on the use of force, the States’ responsibility in controlling the flow of weapons and the non-interference in the internal affairs of States. Moreover, the Republic of Chad encourages the strengthening of regional instruments and mechanisms against arms trade through a global ATT, which should cover all types of conventional arms, including small arms and light weapons, ammunition and all parts and components that can be used in their manufacture, repair and assembly. Countries should agree on a global ATT in order to provide a binding mechanism to which States and other organizations, including organised civil society, are able to legally call for the promotion of local or regional arms regulation.
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Permanent Representatives of the Republic of Chad
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