Chad: Persistent impunity undermines implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

On the occasion of the review of Chad’s third periodic report by the United Nations Human Rights Committee during its 145th session (2–19 March 2026), the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and the Ligue Tchadienne des Droits de l’Homme (LTDH) are publishing a shadow report assessing the implementation by the Chadian State of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). The report highlights the persistence of torture, enforced disappearances, extrajudicial executions, arbitrary detention, and severe restrictions on fundamental freedoms in a context of political transition marked by repression and a shrinking civic space.

Repression of 20 October 2022 and impunity

The repression of the 20 October 2022 demonstrations resulted in more than 200 deaths, thousands of arrests, and at least 40 documented cases of enforced disappearance. Acts of torture, arbitrary transfers to the high-security Koro Toro prison, and summary trials were also documented. More than three years after the events, no independent investigation has been opened and responsibility for these acts has yet to be established. The adoption of an amnesty law in November 2023 deprives victims of their right to truth, justice, and reparation, thereby consolidating a climate of impunity.

Torture, enforced disappearances and arbitrary detention

Despite the constitutional prohibition of torture in Chad, our organisations have documented numerous cases of incommunicado detention, torture, and enforced disappearances, notably attributed to security services. Independent investigations are lacking and no national preventive mechanism in line with international standards has been established.

Prison overcrowding and conditions of detention

Chadian prisons suffer from extreme overcrowding and insufficient access to healthcare, water, and adequate food. Deaths in custody have been reported without transparent investigations, particularly at the high-security Koro Toro prison, located in the desert several hundred kilometres from the capital, N’Djamena. Despite some ad hoc measures, the structural reforms necessary to ensure detention conditions comply with international standards have yet to be adopted.

Risk of reintroduction of the death penalty

Although the death penalty was abolished in 2020, the establishment in June 2025 of a commission tasked with considering its reinstatement poses a serious risk of backsliding on Chad’s abolitionist commitments. In the current context of shrinking civic space, there are additional concerns that, if reinstated, the death penalty could be used as a tool of reprisal against dissenting voices, including human rights defenders.

OMCT and LTDH call on the Human Rights Committee to recommend, in particular, that the Chadian authorities:

• Repeal the amnesty law of 23 November 2023;
• Conduct independent and impartial investigations into the events of 20 October 2022 and allegations of torture, enforced disappearances, and extrajudicial executions;
• Ratify the Second Optional Protocol to the ICCPR aiming at the abolition of the death penalty;
• Establish a national preventive mechanism against torture;
• Reform the legal framework governing security services and ensure effective judicial oversight;
• Reduce prison overcrowding through alternatives to detention;
• Guarantee the protection of human rights defenders and journalists.

To read the full report, click here.