Further to the post I made several days ago about the French humanitarian workers who are in jail thanks to the government of Chad, I have obtained the address of Chad's embassy in the United States online, and will post it here. Please use the address to send them a civil letter calling for the Chadian government to agree to the commutation of their sentence.
The address is:
Embassy of Chad in Washington, United States
2002 R Street, NW
Washington
D.C. 20009
United States
Showing posts with label Kidnapping. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kidnapping. Show all posts
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Friday, December 28, 2007
Note to Humanitarian Workers: DO NOT Go to Chad
Although coverage of this issue has largely been lost in the storm of news over Benazir Bhutto's assassination, Yahoo news has recently reported that six French aid workers convicted of kidnapping in Chad by a kangaroo court are being sent back to France.
These workers, from a humanitarian group called Zoe's Ark, are accused of supposedly trying to kidnap a group of Chadian children, whom they masqueraded as children from Darfur. The case is very complex, but the Chadian court, strongly biased against the French due to the previous imperial relationship between the countries, came to a verdict in only four days.
Many have described the group as being in over its head and amateurish. They tried to pose the children as being injured in order to get them out of the country more easily. Although this may be the case, there is no reason to believe they were actually trying to kidnap the children. For example, they had a journalist with them who was documenting their efforts, not a usual activity for a kidnapper.
Hopefully, the workers will have their sentences commuted in France, as many are expecting. In the meanwhile, humanitarian workers should think twice before they waste their efforts on an ungrateful country such as Chad.
These workers, from a humanitarian group called Zoe's Ark, are accused of supposedly trying to kidnap a group of Chadian children, whom they masqueraded as children from Darfur. The case is very complex, but the Chadian court, strongly biased against the French due to the previous imperial relationship between the countries, came to a verdict in only four days.
Many have described the group as being in over its head and amateurish. They tried to pose the children as being injured in order to get them out of the country more easily. Although this may be the case, there is no reason to believe they were actually trying to kidnap the children. For example, they had a journalist with them who was documenting their efforts, not a usual activity for a kidnapper.
Hopefully, the workers will have their sentences commuted in France, as many are expecting. In the meanwhile, humanitarian workers should think twice before they waste their efforts on an ungrateful country such as Chad.
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