Summary

The Working Group on the use of mercenaries as a means of violating human rights and impeding the exercise of the right of peoples to self-determination visited Chad from 16 to 23 April 2018. The Working Group assessed the impact of mercenarism and foreign fighters on human rights, particularly in the context of the armed conflicts that have affected Chad over the past years. The report is focused largely on the conflict in the Lake Chad region, where Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’Awati Wal-Jihad (Boko Haram) has caused grave human rights violations, resulting in a complex and protracted humanitarian crisis that has displaced more than 2 million people, half of whom are children.