constituteproject.org PDF generated: 18 Apr 2016, 15:36 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) Page 3