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Preamble
• Reference to country's history
Chad, proclaimed a Republic on 28 November 1958, acceded to national and
International sovereignty [on] 11 August 1960.
• Reference to country's history
Since that date, it has experienced a momentous institutional and political evolution.
• Reference to country's history
Years of dictatorship and of [a] single party prevented the emergence of any
democratic culture and political pluralism.
• Reference to country's history
The different regimes that have succeeded one another have created and
entrenched regionalism, tribalism, nepotism, social inequalities, [and] violations of
the Rights of Man and of the individual and collective fundamental freedoms, of
which the consequences have been war, political violence, hatred, intolerance and
mistrust between different communities that compose the Chadian Nation.
• Reference to country's history
This institutional and political crisis that has destabilized Chad for more than three
decades has only galvanized the determination of the Chadian people to achieve the
building of one nation, of dignity, of freedom, of peace and of prosperity.
• Reference to country's history
Therefore, the Sovereign National Conference, held at N'Djaména from 15 January
to 7 April 1993, having reunited the political parties, the associations of civil society,
the organs of the State , the traditional and religious authorities, the representatives
of the rural world and the resources of persons of stature [personalités], have
restored confidence within the Chadian people and enabled the opening of a new
era.
• Source of constitutional authority
• Motives for writing constitution
• Human dignity
• Reference to fraternity/solidarity
Consequently, We the Chadian People:
• Affirm by this Constitution our desire to live together with respect for
ethnic, religious, regional and cultural diversities, to build a State of law and
one united Nation founded on public freedoms and the fundamental rights
of Man, the dignity of the human person and political pluralism, on the
African values of solidarity and fraternity;
• Reaffirm our commitment to the principles of the Rights of Man as defined
by the Charter of the United Nations of 1945, the Universal Declaration of
the Rights of Man of 1948 and the African Charter of the Rights of Man and
of Peoples of 1981;
• Solemnly proclaim our right and our duty to resist and disobey any
individual or group of individuals, [and] any organs of the State that would
take power by force or exercise it in violation of this Constitution;
• Affirm our total opposition to any regime of which the policy would be
founded on arbitrariness, dictatorship, injustice, corruption, extortion,
nepotism, clanism, tribalism, confessionalism and the confiscation of power;
• Affirm our determination to cooperate in peace and amity with all peoples
who share our ideals of freedom, of justice and of solidarity, based on the
principles of equality, of reciprocal interests, of mutual respect and of
national sovereignty, of territorial integrity and of non-interference;
• Proclaim our commitment to the cause of African unity and our
commitment to do everything possible to realize sub-regional and regional
integration;
• Solemnly adopt this Constitution as supreme law of the State.
• International human rights treaties
• Right to overthrow government
• Reference to fraternity/solidarity
• Regional group(s)
This preamble is made an integral part of the Constitution.
Chad 1996 (rev. 2005)
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