The government decreased law enforcement efforts. Existing laws do not specifically prohibit trafficking, though they do prohibit forced prostitution and many types of labor exploitation. Article 20 of the Constitution prohibits slavery and servitude. Title 5 of the labor code prohibits forced and bonded labor, prescribing penalties ranging from six days to three months of imprisonment or a fine of 147,000 to 294,000 ($236-$473) Central African CFA francs (FCFA) or up to 882,000 CFA ($1,419) for repeat offenders; these penalties are not sufficiently stringent to deter this form of trafficking and do not reflect the serious nature of the crimes. Penal code articles 279 and 280 prohibit the “prostitution” of children, prescribing punishments of five to 10 years imprisonment and fines up to 1,000,000 FCFA ($1,608); Title 5 of the labor code punishes forced labor and servitude with fines ranging from 50,000 FCFA to 500,000 FCFA ($80 to $804). These penalties are sufficiently stringent and commensurate with penalties prescribed for other serious crimes. Pimping and owning brothels are prohibited under penal code articles 281 and 282. The African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, the January 1991 Ordinance on the Reorganization of the Armed Forces, and the Optimal Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child prohibit recruitment of children younger than 18 years; punishment for those who violate this provision is at the discretion of military justice officials. In December 2016, the National Assembly passed an updated penal code at the end of the reporting period that required presidential proclamation at the end of the reporting period before it could be enacted into law; it includes 16 articles specifically criminalizing trafficking in persons and is intended to align Chad’s law with the 2000 UN TIP Protocol. Draft revisions to the child protection code, also including provisions criminalizing trafficking in persons, awaits the President’s proclamation and enactment.
Although the government did not collect comprehensive law enforcement data, it initiated one investigation which led to the prosecution of one marabout for the alleged forced begging of two Quranic school students; the suspect was in detention while this case remained pending at the close of the reporting period. The government did not report any convictions. These efforts represent a decrease compared with six investigations, four prosecutions, and three convictions during the previous reporting period. The government did not report any new investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of complicit officials; however, NGOs reported of some local officials’ complicity in trafficking during the reporting period. During the previous reporting period, authorities arrested the police commissioner of the city of Kelo on suspicion of involvement in child trafficking; however, after initial investigation for kidnapping, officials released the suspect from custody and, while the case remained open, it was unknown whether officials continued to actively investigate the charge. In 2016, the Chadian National Police Child Protective Services (Brigade des Mineurs) continued to investigate child abuse and exploitation, including trafficking.