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Stop Housing Demolitions and Forced Evictions in N’Djamena

Since February 2008, tens of thousands of people have been made homeless after being forcibly evicted from their homes in Chad’s capital, N’Djamena. Satellite images acquired by Amnesty International showed that about 3,700 structures had been destroyed in the city in a 12-month period, causing irreparable damage to the livelihoods of so many residents of N’Djamena. Amnesty International has confirmed that many of these evictions were illegal and in violation of international human rights standards and Chadian law. Call on the Chadian government to immediately cease all forced evictions and ensure that the rights of victims of forced evictions are respected.

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Message Recipients

Idriss Déby Itno - His Excellency

Mahamoud Adam Bechir - Ambassador, Embassy of the Rep. of Chad to the US

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Subject:*

Dear (recipient name),

I am deeply concerned about ongoing housing demolitions in N’Djamena, which have led to widespread forced evictions and have left tens of thousands of people homeless. Amnesty International used satellite imagery to determine the depth of destruction of residential neighborhoods in N’Djamena. A comparison of images showed around 3,700 structures had been demolished in a 12-month period. On the ground research by Amnesty International confirmed that many of these demolitions were in fact illegal and in violation of international human rights standards and Chadian law.

Not only were the demolitions undertaken in additional neighborhoods not cited in your decree from February 2008, but residents in many cases were given little to no time to relocate and were not given the opportunity to dispute the evictions. Many have been left with no shelter and no means to find other shelter, often living in the ruins of their old homes. Only a small number seems to have received even minimum compensation. There is also reason to believe that some of the demolished homes belonged to family members of political opponents of your government.

The extensive demolition of thousands of homes will have serious economic repercussions for years to come, as many lost not only their place of business but also crucially important tools and materials during the demolition process. Further, many refugees who fled to Cameroon in February 2008 are now unable to return to N’Djamena because their homes were demolished, leaving many with no other choice than to stay in refugee camps.

I urge you to immediately cease all forced evictions and provide effective remedies for victims of past evictions. Specifically, I call on you to 
 
•  Cease all forced evictions and pass and enforce a law prohibiting forced eviction;
•  Ensure that victims of forced eviction have emergency shelter, access to adequate clean water and sanitation and health services;
•  Respect the rights of victims of forced eviction to an effective remedy, including access to justice and the right to reparations, including restitution, rehabilitation, compensation and guarantees of non-repetition;
•  Conduct a full, independent and impartial inquiry into the role of the police, military and other officials in carrying out forced evictions and bring to justice all those suspected of having broken the law and committed human rights violations.

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