- Österreichisches Rotes Kreuz
- Austrian Centre for Country of Origin and Asylum Research and Documentation (ACCORD)
- Wiedner Hauptstraße 32, 1041 Wien
- T +43 1 589 00 583
- F +43 1 589 00 589
- info@ecoi.net
Dokument #2111841
USDOS – US Department of State (Autor)
At year’s end, Transitional President Mahamat Deby led the country with a mandate to govern under the country’s new constitution. The constitution adopted by popular referendum and confirmed on December 28 by the Supreme Court provides for freedom of religion and equality before the law without distinction as to religion. The constitution prohibits “Any propaganda of an ethnic, tribal, regional or religious nature tending to undermine national unity or the secularism of the State.” The Director of Religious and Traditional Affairs under the Ministry of Interior oversees religious matters, arbitrates intercommunal disputes, and ensures religious freedoms outlined in the constitution are protected. With the exception of traditional Indigenous groups, the government requires all other religious groups and foreign missionary organizations to register with the Ministry of Interior.
The government maintained a ban on a Wahhabi association from participating on the High Council of Islamic Affairs (HCIA), but media outlets said enforcement of the ban remained difficult and Wahhabis continued to meet and worship in their own mosques. There were public debates over the Islamic practice of diya (financial compensation paid to victims of violence), sometimes proposed by local authorities to resolve conflicts between Muslim and Christian individuals or communities.
Much of the country remained relatively free from significant conflict between religious groups and violence from extremist movements, with some violent conflict concentrated in the Lake Chad basin area. Analysts and human rights groups reported that poverty and a lack of government services and economic opportunity raised the risks that violent extremism, including violent extremism related to religion, could spread inside the country. Catholic media reported some tensions between Christians and younger imams in the south-central part of the country, although they stated religious freedom was not overtly constrained.
In March, Transitional President Mahamat Deby met with Archbishop of N’Djamena Edmond Djitangar before the President participated in the inauguration of N’Djamena’s Catholic Cathedral on April 29. The government observed both Christian and Muslim religious holidays as national holidays including, Eid al-Adha, the Birth of the Prophet Muhammad, Eid al-Fitr, Easter Monday, All Saints’ Day, and Christmas Day.
In May, armed groups in the Logone Oriental region attacked a number of Christian communities and killed 17 individuals, including a pastor and 12 congregants attending a prayer meeting; 20 villages were burned and thousands or persons displaced in the attacks. Media outlets reported the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) and Boko Haram continued to threaten communities throughout the Lake Chad Basin region, including through abductions, taxation, and raids. Religious leaders pointed to resource-based conflicts involving mostly Muslim herders and mostly Christian farmers as contributing to tensions between Christians and Muslims.
The U.S. Ambassador met multiple times with the president of the HCIA to discuss interfaith dialogue, peace, and the role of Islam in society. He also met with the Archbishop of N’Djamena and Djimalngar Madjibaye of the Association of Evangelical Churches and Missions (EEMET) and encouraged them to use their moral leadership as a channel for national reconciliation and peaceful coexistence.
The U.S. government estimates the total population at 18.5 million (midyear 2023). According to the most recent population census in 2009, 58 percent of the population is Muslim, 18 percent Catholic, 16 percent Protestant, and 4 percent Animist or other. Most Muslims adhere to the Sufi Tijaniyah tradition. A small minority hold beliefs associated with Wahhabism, Salafism, or follow the political-religious doctrine espoused by the Muslim Brotherhood. Most Protestants are evangelical Christians. There are small numbers of Baha’is and Jehovah’s Witnesses.
There is a significant Muslim presence in the south, but minimal Christian presence in the north. Religious distribution is mixed in urban areas, and Indigenous religions are often practiced to some degree along with Islam and Christianity.
The constitution establishes the state as secular and affirms the separation of religion and state. It provides for freedom of religion and equality before the law without distinction as to religion. It prohibits “any act undermining the republican form and secularism of the state.” The new constitution explicitly does not reference making a faith-based oath, but rather has the President “solemnly swear before the Chadian people and on our honor.” It prescribes a strong central government described as “unitary with decentralization.” The executive branch maintains power, with the president as the ultimate decision-making authority.
The Director of Religious and Traditional Affairs under the Ministry of Interior oversees religious matters, arbitrates intercommunal disputes, and ensures religious freedom as outlined in the constitution is protected. With the exception of traditional Indigenous groups, the government requires all other religious groups and foreign missionary organizations to register with the Ministry of Interior. The ministry conducts background checks on every founding member and establishes a six-month temporary, but renewable, authorization to operate, pending final authorization and approval. Failure to register with the ministry means organizations are not considered legal entities and may not open bank accounts or enter contracts; it may also lead to the banning of a group. Group founders or board members may be subject to one month to one year in prison and a fine of 50,000 to 500,000 CFA francs ($84 to $840) for failure to register. Registration does not confer tax preferences or other benefits. The position of Director of Religious and Traditional Affairs rotates every two years among Muslims, Protestants, and Catholics. The office contains a special bureau for Hajj and Umrah under the supervision of the Presidency of the Republic, with members chosen annually by presidential decree. The HCIA deals directly with the Ministries of Interior and Territorial Administration and Decentralized Territorial Collectivities or with the civil Office of the President of the Republic to address concerns with Wahhabi groups.
Burqas, defined by ministerial notice as “any garment where one sees only the eyes,” are forbidden by ministerial decree. The ministerial notice also applies to niqabs, although this ban is routinely unenforced.
The constitution states public education shall be secular. The government prohibits religious instruction in public schools but permits religious groups to operate private schools, and there are numerous schools operated by Muslim, Catholic, and Protestant groups, including missionary schools operated by American religious organizations.
The HCIA, an independent government body, oversees Islamic religious activities, including some Arabic-language schools and institutions of higher learning, and represents the country’s Muslim community at international Islamic forums. The government approves those nominated by members of the HCIA to serve on the council. Wahhabis are nominated to serve on the council but have not participated due to their stated concerns regarding the council’s role in the government ban on their activities. Muslim Brotherhood adherents also sit on the council, operating under the umbrella of Sufi groups rather than as overt representatives of Muslim Brotherhood groups. The Grand Imam of N’Djamena, who is selected by a committee of Muslim elders and approved by the government, is the de jure president of the HCIA and oversees the heads of the HCIA branches and grand imams from each of the country’s 23 provinces. He has the authority to restrict Muslim groups from proselytizing, to regulate the content of mosque sermons, and to control activities of Islamic charities. Although the country is legally defined as a secular state, the HCIA has jurisdiction for some issues, including personal status issues such as marriage, property disposition between spouses, divorce, and parentage.
The law prohibits media reports that are likely to “incite hatred.”
The country is a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
During the year, the government maintained its ban on the participation of the leading Wahhabi group, Ansar al-Sunna, in the HCIA. According to civil rights organizations, however, enforcement was especially difficult due to strained government capacity during the political transition; Wahhabi adherents continued to meet, worship in their own mosques, and release communiques. Local media said one reason Wahhabi adherents continued their activities was that a number of government and security officials came from the same region or tribe as the Wahhabi leaders. Local media reported the HCIA president reconciled with Wahhabi adherents, in contrast with the approach of his predecessor, whom many reportedly viewed as anti-Wahhabist. Wahhabis continued to receive financial support from abroad as individuals rather than as a group, according to local media.
According to local observers, the government continued to deploy security forces around both Islamic and Christian places of worship, in particular on Fridays around mosques and on Sundays around churches.
The military remained active in its fight against Boko Haram and ISIS-West Africa in the Lake Chad region and continued to support demobilization and reintegration efforts for former combatants.
Although he had the legal authority to do so, the Grand Imam of N’Djamena reportedly did not regulate the content of sermons.
Local media reported religious tensions fueled farmer-herder violence. The disputes reportedly started from land-use issues rather than religion, although witnesses commonly associated herders with Islam and farmers with Christianity.
Sources stated religious tensions sometimes increased when local authorities proposed the use of Islamic diya as a means of resolving conflicts with Christian groups that refused to pay or accept diya.
In March, Transitional President Deby met with the Archbishop Djitangar before Deby participated in the inauguration of N’Djamena’s Catholic Cathedral on April 29. Religious leaders welcomed this outreach by the head of state. The government observed both Christian and Islamic religious holidays as national holidays including Eid al-Adha, the Birth of the Prophet Muhammad, Eid al-Fitr, Easter Monday, All Saints’ Day, and Christmas Day.
The government continued to permit proselytization by Christian missionary groups.
In May, EEMET called on the government to protect Christians following the killing of multiple pastors by armed groups, particularly in the Logone Oriental region (southwest area). Armed groups attacked a number of Christian communities in the region and on May 8 killed 17 individuals, including Pastor Doumro Tadingao Gaston and 12 congregants attending a prayer meeting in the predominantly Christian village of Don. Media outlets reported 20 villages were burned and thousands or persons displaced in the attacks. The EEMET communique urged the government to investigate the reports and decried the “assassination” of pastors, church leaders, and Christians, stating these acts had “violated the secular nature of the state.” Police later arrested 30 suspected perpetrators of the May 8 attack.
Although conflict continued between ISWAP and rival jihadist faction Jama’tu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati wal-Jihad (JAS, commonly known as Boko Haram), the two groups also continued to threaten communities throughout the Lake Chad Basin region, including through abductions, taxation, and raids.
Much of the country remained relatively free from significant conflict between religious groups and violence from armed movements, with some violent conflict concentrated in the Lake Chad basin area. According to observers, most conflicts took place between farmers and herders over competing uses of land and an asymmetric balance of power between state-backed herding interests and marginalized farming interests rather than religious identity. Religious leaders pointed to resource-based conflicts as contributing to tensions between Christians and Muslims. In an ACIA media report, Father Hathouna, a Catholic priest noted, “[t]hey talk always of peaceful, pacific coexistence, but it’s not easy because of the constant conflict between farmers and herders,” alluding to the fact that farmers are generally Christians, and the herders are Muslim. Another priest stated, “Muslims are highly favored by the current regime, leading to social, economic and cultural injustice.” Analysts stated that lengthy periods of largely southern and Christian rule from 1960 to 1979, followed by largely northern and Muslim rule between 1979 and 2021, created an association between religion and geographic region that political actors continued to exploit for their purposes. Media outlets reported inhabitants of N’Djamena and other large cities self-segregated according to religious divisions. Analysts and human rights groups reported that poverty and a lack of government services and economic opportunity raised the risks that violent extremism, including violent extremism related to religion, would spread in the country.
In August, the Holy See announced the establishment of a new diocese in Koumra and the appointment of Koumra’s first bishop.
In September, Catholic media reported that Catholic Bishop of Mongo (south central area) Philippe Abbo Chen stated, “Sometimes our parishioners tell us that they are afraid to show their faith in certain environments. Generally, though, we are perfectly free to live out our faith. We can ring our church bells and hold processions in the streets.” Abbo Chen added that younger imams returning from training in Sudan followed a “narrower view of Islam” and “refused fraternal relations with members of other religions.”
In December, the country’s nine Roman Catholic bishops issued a message entitled, “Let Us March Together for Justice,” in which they decried what they stated was the absence of democracy in the country, the stifling of free speech, poverty, violence, and an economic system that enriches the rich and ignores the plight of the impoverished. The bishops said, “Peace cannot be reduced to the sole question of security. Real peace cannot be built without justice, truth, love, and liberty. Justice marches with peace. When one is threatened, both will waver; when one offends justice, peace itself is imperiled…”
The U.S. Ambassador met periodically with the president of the HCIA and discussed interfaith dialogue, peace, and the role of Islam in local society.
The Ambassador also met with other faith leaders, including Archbishop Djitangar and EEMET head Madjibaye, and encouraged them to use their moral leadership as a channel for national reconciliation and peaceful coexistence. The Ambassador engaged with local religious authorities throughout the country to discuss interfaith dialogue and support efforts to counter extremist messages related to religion. On June 3-15, the U.S. embassy sponsored an exchange visit of 10 local imams and Quranic school teachers to the United States, where they gained perspective on interfaith relations in a variety of settings.
The U.S. embassy amplified messages promoting religious freedom and tolerance throughout the year, including on social media. In June, the embassy used its social media channels to celebrate Eid al-Adha. In December, the Ambassador used social media to wish a Merry Christmas “to those who celebrate … and to all Chadians of goodwill, I wish you … a peaceful … 2024.”
ecoi.net wird vom Österreichischen Roten Kreuz (Abteilung ACCORD) in Kooperation mit dem Informationsverbund Asyl & Migration betrieben. ecoi.net wird durch den Asyl-, Migrations- und Integrationsfonds, das Bundesministerium für Inneres und die Caritas Österreich kofinanziert. ecoi.net wird von ECRE und UNHCR ideell unterstützt.
