Joint statement on the ratification of the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty (OP2-ICCPR), and on the transparency of the work of the Commission charged with examining the issue of the death penalty in Chad.
Statement
On 30 June 2026, during the opening ceremony of the 9th World Congress Against the Death Penalty, held in Paris, France, the Minister for Justice and Human Rights of the Republic of Chad, Ndolenodji Alixe Naïmbaye, confirmed in front of the international community, the existence of a draft bill to ratify the Second Optional Protocol to the ICCPR.
She stated that the bill was currently following the national adoption procedures, without, however, specifying its current stage of progress nor the expected timeline.
The signatory organisations take note of and welcome this expressed commitment to securing the abolition of the death penalty in Chad. This commitment is in line with thos made by the Chadian delegation during the consideration of Chad’s third periodic report before the United Nations Human Rights Committee on 5 and 6 March 2026, and by the Chadian Parliament in 2020, when it adopted Law No. 003/PR/2020 repealing the death penalty from the remaining legal provisions in which it was provided for under national law, thereby abolishing it for all crimes.
This commitment is also in line with the recommendations made during Chad’s fourth cycle of the Universal Periodic Review on 30 January 2024, during which nine recommendations called on the State to ratify the Second Optional Protocol to the ICCPR (France, Slovenia, Iceland, Croatia, Luxembourg, Togo, Finland, Rwanda, Nepal and Uruguay).
At the same time, contrary to these commitments, a Commission was established by Decree No. 82 of 23 June 2025 to consider the issue of the death penalty in Chad, and particularly its reinstatement. The signatory organisations regret that, to date, no official information has been made public regarding the work of this commission. More than a year after its establishment, neither its detailed mandate, nor the hearings held, nor any conclusions or recommendations have been communicated to the public or to civil society organisations.
This lack of transparency fuels uncertainty about the future of abolition in Chad, despite the authorities’ stated commitment to securing it. A reversal would send a disastrous signal for the rule of law, national reconciliation and Chad’s image on the international stage.
The signatory organisations therefore call on the Government of the Republic of Chad to:
- Expedite without delay the ratification process for the Second Optional Protocol, in accordance with the commitment made to the Human Rights Committee and the recommendations arising from the Universal Periodic Review. The signing of a treaty is an important step, but only its ratification creates an irreversible international legal obligation not to reintroduce the death penalty.
- Permanently abandon any initiative aimed at reintroducing the death penalty, in accordance with the total abolition declared in 2020 and the Government’s own statements ruling out such a reintroduction. Any reintroduction would constitute a major setback for the protection of the right to life and would undermine the country’s international credibility.
- Make public the work of the Commission established in June 2025: initially, the decree establishing the Commission, its composition and its terms of reference; then, upon completion of its work, its conclusions and recommendations, in order to ensure transparency in public action and to enable an informed democratic debate involving civil society organisations.
The abolition of the death penalty, enshrined in 2020, represents a historic milestone for Chad. The ratification of the Second Optional Protocol would be a natural next step, firmly embedding this progress within the State’s international commitments. It would strengthen the protection of the right to life, consolidate the rule of law and demonstrate Chad’s commitment to fully respecting the recommendations made by international human rights protection mechanisms.
N’Djamena, 28 September 2026
Signatory organisations :
- ACAT Tchad – Chad
- ACAT Germany – Germany
- ACAT Belgium – Belgium
- ACAT Burundi – Burundi
- ACAT Canada – Canada
- ACAT Senegal – Senegal
- ACAT Sweden – Sweden
- ACAT Switzerland – Switzerland
- Action mondiale des parlementaires / Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA)
- Al-Monqith Organization For Human Rights (MOHR) – Iraq
- Amnesty International
- CCPR Centre
- Centre Action Sociale Réhabilitation et Réadaptation pour les Victimes de la Torture, de la Guerre et de la Violence (SOHRAM-CASRA) – Türkiye
- World Coalition Against the Death Penalty (WCADP)
- CrimeInfo – Japan
- Death Penalty Focus – USA
- Ensemble contre la peine de mort (ECPM) – France
- Federal Association of Vietnamese Refugees in the Federal Republic of Germany – Germany
- International Federation of ACATs (FIACAT)
- German Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty (GCADP) – Germany
- Lembaga Bantuan Hukum Masyarakat (Community Legal Aid Institute) – Indonesia
- lifespark (Switzerland) – movement against the death penalty – Switzerland
- Ne touchez pas à Caïn/Hands Off Cain
- Prisoners’ Future Foundation (PFF) – Zambia
- Rescue Alternatives Liberia – Liberia
- Transitional Justice Working Group (TJWG) – South Korea
