This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.


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FM AMEMBASSY NDJAMENA
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 2244
INFO AMEMBASSY ABUJA 
AMEMBASSY DAKAR 
AMEMBASSY LIBREVILLE 
AMEMBASSY LONDON 
AMEMBASSY NIAMEY 
AMEMBASSY PARIS 
AMEMBASSY YAOUNDE 
DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
USDOC WASHDC
DOE WASHDC

UNCLAS  NDJAMENA 001356 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR AF/C, G, DRL, INR; LONDON AND PARIS FOR 
AFRICA WATCHERS, TREASURY FOR OTA, ENERGY FOR GPERSON AND 
CGAY 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON EFIN ENRG EPET PGOV PHUM CD
SUBJECT: CHAD-CAMEROON PIPELINE PROJECT: OVERVIEW OF HUMAN 
RIGHTS ISSUES IN CHAD 
 
REF: A. NDJAMENA 1227 
     ¶B. NDJAMENA 1151 
     ¶C. NDJAMENA 1150 
     ¶D. NDJAMENA 910 
     ¶E. NJDAMENA 901 
     ¶F. NDJAMENA 867 
     ¶G. NDJAMENA 866 
     ¶H. NDJAMENA 454 
     ¶I. NDJAMENA 661 
     ¶J. NDJAMENA 550 
     ¶K. NDJAMENA 402 
     ¶L. NDJAMENA 72 
     ¶M. NDJAMENA 53 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary:  With oil flowing, the Chad-Cameroon 
pipeline project and the conventions that govern it are now 
being tested.   Human rights groups in Chad and their 
international partners continue to monitor and raise 
compensation, environmental, social, and security issues. 
While recognizing that there is room for improvement on all 
fronts, we believe that the pipeline project in Chad has 
avoided the widespread corruption, environmental damage, 
social conflict, and security force abuses experienced in 
neighboring African oil producers.  It must be emphasized 
that local perceptions (for good or for ill) are formed in 
the absence of an effective judicial system or contract 
enforcement mechanisms which could provide a common basis for 
understanding whether the parties (the oil consortium and the 
Government of Chad) are abiding by their obligations.  As a 
result of these factors, the oil company, rather than the 
Government bears the brunt of the criticism and demands. 
Given the newness of the project, the dynamics of the 
relationships among the consortium, human rights groups, 
local residents, and government are still developing.  End 
Summary. 
 
- - - - - - 
BACKGROUND 
- - - - - - 
 
¶2.  (SBU)  Human rights groups in Chad and their 
international partners continue to monitor and raise 
compensation, environmental, social, and security issues 
related to the Chad-Cameroon pipeline project.  This 
assessment of the criticisms of the project has been derived 
from Embassy, Department of Energy, and OPIC personnel visits 
to the oil-producing region, regular contact with human 
rights groups and the Oil Revenue Management College, 
meetings with visiting members of international 
non-governmental organizations, and from meetings with 
government and oil company officials over the past year. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) As previously reported, the Esso-led consortium 
(with partners Chevron and Petronas) has a relatively small 
footprint in Chad.  Esso has taken steps to learn from the 
volatile situation in the Niger Delta in Nigeria, where oil 
companies become the primary provider of key government 
services and corrupt local government officials and chiefs 
abscond with funds meant for local communities.  In Chad, the 
conventions governing the pipeline were designed to avoid 
many of the problems faced elsewhere in Africa and resulted 
from extensive consultations with civil sociey and local 
communities. 
 
 
- - - - - - - - - - - 
COMPENSATION PACKAGES 
- - - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶4.  (SBU)  Displacement of families and compensation packages 
are (and will be) a continuing source of criticism of the 
pipeline project for human rights groups.  In Chad, three 
hundred families were displaced due to pipeline construction. 
 They were given a number of options for relocation and the 
consortium reconstructed their houses and paid them for their 
land.  During the individual compensation phase of the 
project, market value was determined and Esso paid each 
family in the presence of local officials and traditional 
 
 
leaders.  Each family selected its package and signed for it. 
 Their photographs were taken accepting the packages.  After 
the project's construction was completed, Esso allowed the 
families to return to the area and farm the land for which 
they have been compensated as long as they do not damage the 
property.  Problems are now arising from individuals who 
claim their were never paid or not paid enough.  We 
understand that some of this is being instigated by local 
chiefs, who are trying to collect ten percent from the 
packages paid to the individuals.  Furthermore, many 
international NGOs are encouraging locals to demand 
compensation based on the number of trees cut down for 
construction.  However, this would mean that the local 
residents would receive less money for their property, 
according to a comparison with the current compensation 
packages. 
 
- - - - - - - - - - - 
ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES 
- - - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶5.  (SBU)  The key environmental problem in the region is 
dust pollution.  Respiratory ailments are prevalent, largely 
the result of the increased truck traffic on laterite roads. 
Local government officials raise this negative aspect of the 
project frequently.  The consortium paved a few roads, but 
uses molasses and water to keep down the dust.  Molasses 
actually forms a hard surface, but must be replaced after the 
rains and its availability varies.  Initially, the consortium 
avoided settled areas and conducted extensive public 
consultations at which the local population insisted that 
some road be built through populated areas.  In places where 
Esso avoided villages, many individuals moved alongside them 
despite being warned repeatedly about the dust.  Esso built 
roads to "Chad standards", which means laterite.  The bottom 
line is that the local population wants all the roads to be 
paved with asphalt in the area.  The consortium maintains 
this is a function of government and should be put forward as 
a desired use of the oil revenues. 
 
¶6.  (SBU)   Human rights groups complain about ground water 
quality.  The World Health Organization reports a high level 
of iron in the soil and water content that pre-existed the 
pipeline project.  When local communities selected well 
projects as part of their compensation, they were confronted 
with the iron content of the water.  Esso would like to 
explore the option of creating a reservoir for the high 
volume of ground water being pumped from the wells, which can 
then be treated for distribution.  However, Esso is not 
currently pursuing this option because it fears opposition 
and litigation from many quarters.  In terms of its drilling 
operations, the consortium meets U.S. standards for water 
quality.  Esso readily admits that gas flaring is an 
unanticipated problem and it is seeking solutions.  For now, 
Esso uses most of the gas to power the gas turbines which run 
the facilities, rather than diesel fuel.  The air quality in 
the area is monitored regularly and meets accepted standards. 
 
- - - - - - - - - - 
TRANSPARENCY ISSUES 
- - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶7.  (SBU)  Chad's unique revenue management system is working 
as intended, for now, but showing some signs of strain.  The 
creation of the system was a direct response to situations in 
other countries where oil revenues are mismanaged and poverty 
rates are growing.  The College du Control et Surveillence 
des Resources Petrolieres (CCRSP) or "College" oversees the 
expenditure of revenues in priority sectors (Agriculture, 
Education, Environment, Health, and Infrastructure). 
Representatives on the College include the Director of the 
Central Bank, the Director of the Treasury, two members of 
the National Assembly, a representative of the Supreme Court, 
unions, human rights groups, religious groups, and 
non-governmental organizations.  The oil revenues began 
flowing into the Government's escrow account in June 2004. 
The College just issued a project verification report, which 
outlines many problems with the completion of projects 
 
 
(septel).  The Government has yet to respond. 
 
- - - - - - - - - - 
HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES 
- - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶8.  (SBU)  There have been no reports of human rights abuses 
by security personnel assigned to Esso.  A private security 
company provides internal security for the project sites. 
Guards at well sites are unarmed.  There are 175 Chadian 
gendarmes assigned to area.  To date, the embassy has 
received no reports of abuses committed against residents by 
these gendarmes.  Embassy personnel work closely with Esso on 
security issues and has sent eight gendarmes associated with 
the project to training in the U.S., which includes human 
rights training.  In addition, Chadians living near the 
project receive additional compensation from Esso to perform 
the functions of a "neighborhood watch" as a check against 
vandalism. 
 
- - - - - - - 
SOCIAL ISSUES 
- - - - - - - 
 
¶9.  (SBU) HIV/AIDS and child prostitution are the most-often 
cited social issues in the project area.  Esso supports a 
non-governmental organization's efforts to raise awareness 
and combat HIV/AIDS.  HIV/AIDS was already a growing issue 
prior to the pipeline construction due to the trucking routes 
in the area and the proximity to the border with Cameroon. 
However, as the project construction brought in more outside 
labor and truckers, the prevalence of HIV/AIDS and 
sexually-transmitted diseases increased as well.  Esso 
educates, monitors, and treats its workers for STDs and has 
monitors the local communities.  Esso funds health programs 
in the area, including HIV/AIDS awareness and malaria 
prevention.  Another "side effect" of the pipeline is a 
significant prostitution problem in the area, which has led 
to an influx of girls from Cameroon and Central African 
Republic between 15 and 17 years of age. 
 
¶10.  (SBU)  Employment issues, such as numbers of Chadians 
employed, salaries, and benefits, are highly charged and the 
most common critique is that the consortium has not met the 
needs of its employees.  The Government, unions, and human 
rights groups form an unlikely alliance on these issues. 
However, it is clear that local communities surrounding the 
project have benefited significantly from salaries and 
benefits such as education, low-cost loans, and access to 
low-cost medical treatment.  The consortium also faces 
criticism for paying their employees too much and creating 
two economic classes of local residents, those that work for 
the project and those that do not.  It is clear that 
increased salaries has had an inflationary impact on the 
costs of many goods and services. 
 
¶11.  (SBU)  Chad's powerful labor unions criticize the 
consortium on a wide range of issues, including the decreased 
need for labor now that the construction phase is over.  In 
preparation for the eventual cut-backs, Esso provided skills 
training to its employees and vocational qualification 
certificates for 1,700 employees.  Complaints that workers 
were not paid bonuses are common, but mostly unfounded.  The 
Government wants Esso to give contracts to local businesses 
to provide services.  A key problem remains a lack of local 
businesses able to meet the needs of the consortium.  An 
interesting development is the number of "local businesses" 
serviing the consorium which are owned by Government 
officials.  Esso is now facing court cases lodged aainst 
sub-contractors who have not fulfilled ther contracts.  The 
courts, however,are too weak to withstand political pressure 
from the Government and the unions to fairly arbitrate 
complicated commercial cases. 
 
- - - - 
COMMENT 
- - - - 
E 
 
 
¶12.  (SBU)  The overall benefits of the Chad-Cameroon 
Pipeline Project for Chad need to be judged over the 
long-term.  The relationships of key players--the Government, 
the consortium, human rights groups, and labor unions--are 
still developing. While recognizing that there is room for 
improvement on all fronts, we believe that the pipeline 
project in Chad has avoided the widespread corruption, 
environmental damage, social conflict, and security-force 
abuses experienced in neighboring African oil producers. 
 
¶13.  (SBU)   From our perspective, the key problem in Chad is 
not the conventions, but the lack of a mechanism or an arena 
in which these players can discuss, negotiate, and settle 
problems and deal with the consequences of oil production and 
the issues being raised by the human rights groups and local 
communities.  The Chadian judicial system is weak and 
susceptible to outside influences.  There is no recourse for 
the public or for commercial enterprises to obtain justice or 
address perceived or real inequities.  As a result of these 
factors, the oil company, rather than the Government bears 
the brunt of the criticism and demands.  The Chadian 
Government, which does not always respect the conventions it 
negotiated, allows this situation to continue because it 
deflects responsibility for its failure to provide basic 
services and rights to its citizens.  The negotiation of 
future agreements and conventions in the absence of 
functioning judiciaries and good governance can be informed 
from the types of problems and dynamics that have arisen in 
Chad. 
TAMLYN 
 
 
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