As the Security Council considers adopting a resolution on arrangements for the follow-on by the United Nations of the European operation in eastern Chad and the northeastern Central African Republic, Human Rights Watch offers further concrete and practical measures that the Security Council can take now to reduce abuses and enhance the protection of civilians.

Under a new law signed today by US President George W. Bush, leaders of military forces and armed groups who have recruited child soldiers may be arrested and prosecuted in the United States.

Fourteen abuse victims, backed by a coalition of African and international rights groups, today filed complaints with a Senegalese prosecutor accusing the former Chadian dictator Hissène Habré of crimes against humanity and torture.

As the Security Council's Working Group on children and armed conflict prepares to discuss Chad on September 5, we wish to highlight the deteriorating rights climate for children in Chad, and urge you specifically to press for the full implementation of the Working Group's previous conclusions of September 24, 2007 (S/AC.51/2007/16). The need to take concrete action is especially urgent as the conflict in Chad enters its fourth year and the use and recruitment of children persists with all armed forces and groups involved in these abuses.

Senegal’s adoption today of a constitutional amendment confirming that Senegalese courts can prosecute past crimes against humanity lifts any legal obstacles to the trial of former Chadian dictator Hissène Habré, Human Rights Watch said today.

During its upcoming summit, the African Union should ask Senegal to explain why little progress has been made in the two years since it mandated Senegal to prosecute former Chadian dictator Hissène Habré, eight human rights organizations said today. The African Union is holding its bi-annual summit here on June 30 and July 1.

Following the arrest of Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo on May 24, the International Criminal Court should pursue other top officials in the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of Congo for atrocities committed against civilians, Human Rights Watch said today.

We write in advance of the Security Council’s mission to Africa on June 1-10, 2008, to urge you to use this opportunity to address pressing human rights issues in Sudan, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo and Somalia.