Chad - Military Doctrine

The military (ANT), gendarmerie, national police, the Chadian National Nomadic Guard (GNNT), and the National Security Agency (ANS) are responsible for internal security. A specialized gendarmerie unit, the Detachment for the Protection of Humanitarian Workers and Refugees (DPHR), is responsible for security in refugee camps. The ANT reports to the Ministry of Defense. The national police, GNNT, and DPHR are part of the Ministry of Public Security and Immigration. The ANS reports to the national security advisor. The National Antipoaching and Environmental Protection Mobile Brigade is part of the Ministry of Agriculture, and the Customs Mobile Brigade is part of the Ministry of Finance and Budget.

Security forces were corrupt and involved in extortion. According to media reports, police also were involved in violence and arms trafficking. Impunity was a problem. Members of the Judicial Police, an office within the national police with arrest authority, did not always enforce domestic court orders against military personnel or members of their own ethnic groups. There were isolated reports of former soldiers posing as active-duty soldiers and committing crimes with government-issued weapons. Two gendarmerie entities, the National Judiciary Investigations Section and the Special Intervention Squad of the Gendarmerie, investigate all gendarmerie, GNNT, and army killings to determine whether they occurred in the line of duty or were otherwise justifiable. The Judicial Police investigate police killings.

The long border area between Sudan and Chad shelters a murky and dangerous mix of armed groups. As the Darfur situation has deteriorated, hostilities between Chad and Sudan have increased. Chadian rebels and Janjaweed militias operating out of Sudan have launched increasingly frequent incursions into eastern Chad since October 2005. Thre was a division within the Chadian Zaghawa community over Déby’s Darfur policy. Déby, a Zaghawa, came to power in 1990 by overthrowing Hissène Habré in a military campaign emanating from Darfur, where he was supported by the Sudanese Zaghawa. At the outset of the Darfur war, Déby worked closely with Khartoum, even ordering 800 troops into Darfur to fight the rebels in April 2003. This discouraged but did not stop support flowing to the rebels from Zaghawa in the Chadian military.

The conflict in Darfurs pilled over the border, forcing some 120,000 Chadians to join more than 200,000 Sudanese refugees in camps. In an army base in the south eastern city of Haraze Mangueigne, Chad, was attacked by rebels from Chad's United Front for Democratic Change (FUCD). Chadian officials accuse the government in Khartoum of backing the rebels,, a charge which Sudan denied. Sudan accused Chad 10 April 2007 of backing Darfur's rebel groups - Chad's President Idriss Deby is from the Zaghawa community, which is one of the groups being attacked by pro-government Arab militias in Darfur. Chad denied backing the rebels and in turn accuses Sudan of causing unrest among its Arab community - charges denied by Khartoum. Chad said Sudan government-backed militias are attacking villagers in Chad. Some 200,000 Darfur refugees are also in Chad Sudan accused Chad of backing the Darfur rebels Chad said it would send troops to help CAR fight the rebels. CAR said Sudan backed rebels who seized towns in CAR.

Law 12/PR/2006 (Loi No 012/PR/2006) of 10 March 2006 outlines the structure and division of Chad's security forces. The Constitution of the Republic of Chad says the following regarding the responsibility of Chadian armed forces and security forces:

Article 192

National Defence is provided by the National Army and the National Gendarmerie. The maintenance of law and order and of security is provided by the National Police, the National and Nomadic Guard, and the National Gendarmerie.

Article 193

The mission of the Chadian National Army is to defend territorial integrity and national unity, and to protect national independence and the security of the country from any external aggression or threat.

Article 194

The Chadian National Army takes part in economic and social development tasks and in humanitarian operations.

Article 195

Missions not provided for under this Constitution are defined by legislation.

Article 196

The mission of the National Gendarmerie is to:

• protect persons and property;
• maintain or restore law and order;
• ensure that laws and regulations are followed.

The Government of Chad had withdrawn all Chadian military personnel from humanitarian work so that the United Nations force and DIS elements could take their place. In the new state of affairs, after 2010 security would be — and indeed was already being — strengthened through the relocation of military personnel to the centres vacated by the United Nations force and through the strengthening of security in towns by elements of the Gendarmerie and GNNT. DIS, which was responsible for security in and around refugee camps and displaced persons sites within a 10-kilometre radius, will then have broader scope for action throughout its areas of jurisdiction, in addition to the provision of escort details for humanitarian workers that will need to be arranged in cooperation with other security forces

By 2010 the security belt in eastern Chad, in Salamat, Moyen-Chari and Logone Oriental, was to consist of three levels. The concept for the protection of civilians in eastern Chad provided for a security belt, consisting of three elements: Chadian National Army troops, based in garrison towns along the entire border with the Sudan, complemented by the Chadian-Sudanese Joint Border Monitoring Force; the Gendarmerie nationale and the Garde nationale et nomade du Tchad, located in all major villages in the east; and, DIS, located within and around refugee camps and towns, in conjunction with local security forces such as the gendarmerie and the national police.

• The first level of security comprises the sovereignty forces (the Chadian National Army), which are based in the garrison towns along the border from Bahai to Tissi. In addition, the joint Chadian-Sudanese force is based in 10 locations on either side of the border and its headquarters, which was in El-Geneina (the Sudan), is now in Abéché (Chad), based on a six-month rotation.
• The second level comprises the forces of the territorial gendarmerie and GNNT, which are located in all large villages on the Chadian side of the border between the DIS area of operations and the garrison towns. There is also a joint disarmament force which continuously patrols the entire eastern area. This is a mobile force which provides support to other security forces where necessary.
• The third level is the DIS line of surveillance, i.e. the area in and around refugee camps and towns monitored in conjunction with local security forces such as the gendarmerie and the National Police. It should be noted that all these forces have communication devices for real-time information exchange.

In the spring of 2013, the Chadian National Police underwent a thorough re-vetting process that led to the dismissal of thousands of under-qualified officers. Since then, the Regional Security Office has witnessed improvement in the daily performance of the police in N’Djamena.

Civil unrest often affects the border areas with Libya, Sudan, Central African Republic, Cameroon, Nigeria, and Niger, and cross-border clashes occasionally occur. Major cities can see demonstrations against the government. Teachers strike over perceived low wages, and students protest in support of their teachers and the government’s failure to pay stipends. Students became violent during marches in 2014, when security forces responded with robust riot control techniques to quell demonstrations. These protests resulted in vehicles set ablaze by students and students throwing stones at police and vehicles. Extreme caution should be used when student demonstrations are in progress.

The threat of rebel incursions following unrest in 2008 has been replaced by concerns of regional violent extremism. While it is suspected that individuals associated with terrorist groups such as al Qai’da in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and Boko Haram may transit Chad, there is no indication that these groups have conducted operations in Chad. Unanticipated attacks can occur, as evidenced by the January 2015 terrorist assault on the Nigerian Baga Kawa military base, the January 2013 BP petroleum facility in Algeria, and the May 2013 dual attacks at Agadez and Arlit, Niger. There was an increase in terrorist activity in Nigeria and Cameroon in 2014. There has been violence along the Central African Republic (CAR) border by CAR militia groups.

Chad has focused on reducing the rebel threat that sprung from a proxy war with its neighbor Sudan. In 2010, President Déby Itno and President Bashir of Sudan signed agreements that allow their militaries to jointly patrol their shared border to interdict anti-government elements. Chad continues to work with neighboring countries to counter regional issues, including terrorism, smuggling, and poaching.

Pushed back in Iraq and Syria, Daesh (ISIL/ISIS) has been attempting to establish a foothold in Libya. Speaking to Atlantico, in March 2016 French writer and geopolitical analyst Frederic Encel explained the threats facing the Central African country of Chad, and why it serves as a crucial foothold in preventing Daesh's spread south across the African continent. Professor Bakary Sembe of Senegal's Gaston Berger University warned that if the Chad 'protective barrier' were to fall, Daesh militants may quickly spread throughout the Sahel, the geographic zone between the Sahara Desert in northern Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa to the south. Asked by Alantico whether Sembe's fears are justified, and what role Chad, a landlocked country bordering Libya to its north, might play, Encel suggested that ultimately, a great deal will depend on the Chadian leadership's ability to preserve political stability.