DAKAR - A European peacekeeping force for eastern Chad can bolster humanitarian work there but its strong French component raises questions about its ability to stay neutral in a multi-sided conflict, Human Rights Watch said.
Peter Takirambudde, Africa director for the New York-based rights group, said on Wednesday he had serious concerns about the composition and effectiveness of the European Union force authorised by the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday.
The force of up to 4,000 EU troops, in addition to 300 U.N. police, is intended to act as a protective shield for refugees and civilians in Chad and Central African Republic who have suffered the spillover of violence from Sudan's Darfur.
Over the last two years, hundreds of civilians have been killed in eastern Chad in a spiral of tit-for-tat violence propelled by cross-border militia raids, rebel attacks and communal clashes that pit Arabs against non-Arabs.
Humanitarian workers operating in the desolate Chad-Sudan border area have been crying out for international protection, and the planned EU force -- which should get the final go-ahead from European defence ministers on Friday -- responds to this.
"The premise is good. ... It is never too late for humanitarian support," HRW's Takirambudde said in an interview during a visit to the Senegalese capital Dakar. "But the devil is in the details."
Takirambudde expressed concern that France, which has a military contingent stationed in its former colony Chad under an agreement with President Idriss Deby's government, will be a leading troop contributor to the EU deployment.
"If you go in as an international force, the position of neutrality is crucial," he said. "The French ... have a long-standing cohabitation with Deby ... so issues of neutrality arise. To what extent can the French be neutral?"
