Chad: urgent need to protect the people of eastern Chad

During its last mission to Chad in November 2006 and documented in its report ‘‘Chad: Are we citizens of this country’’(AI Index AFR 20/001/2006) Amnesty International noted an escalation of deliberate and targeted attacks on the civilian population by Janjawid militia crossing over from Sudan and by local Chadian Arab and some non Arab groups. [...] One 14 year-old girl witnessed the summary killing of 19 men by the Janjawid outside the village of Wiririké in the Darsila region on 11 October 2006: ‘‘It was about midday and I was going back to the village when three men on horseback chased me and captured me. [...] One bullet did not work and so he used a stick and smashed the head of the man until he was dead. [...] They were all killed …’’ Amnesty International is wondering how many more testimonies are needed to persuade the Chadian Government and the United Nations to act quickly and effectively to protect civilians. [...] On the other hand, the United Nations sent a second technical assessment mission to the region in January 2007 to gather more information about the situation on the ground before authorizing the deployment of a multidimensional United Nations presence.