Charity group chief denies Chadian kidnapping charges

THE head of a French charity on trial with five colleagues in Chad yesterday denied kidnapping 103 children, saying he believed in good faith they were saving orphans from Darfur.

“I refute the charges I am accused of. I intend to respond point by point,” Eric Breteau, head of Arche de Zoe (Zoe’s Ark), told a courtroom on the first day of the trial.

The six French workers could face 20-year hard labour terms in a case that has raised questions about the integrity of non-governmental aid organisations and strained ties between Chad and its former colonial power.

Judges yesterday rejected a defence petition to have the case declared void.

The six were arrested in the eastern town of Abeche on October 25 as they were about to put the children on a Spanish plane bound for France. Almost all the children turned out to be neither Sudanese nor orphans, according to aid groups.

Defence lawyers say the six, who began a hunger strike two weeks ago, were duped by local intermediaries. “Nobody ever expressed even the tiniest doubt about the Sudanese origins of the children present at our bases,” Breteau told the court.

Three Chadians and a Sudanese accused of complicity are also defendants in the trial, which is expected to last around a week. Sources close to the case suggest Paris and the Chadian capital Ndjamena may have already agreed for the charity workers to be transferred back home to serve out their sentence in the event of a conviction. “We are in permanent discussion with Chadian authorities, including at the highest levels,” said French Co-operation Minister Jean-Marie Bockel.

The case has prompted concerns about the sometimes murky world of adoptions by Western couples of children from the developing world and aid agencies have complained of increased pressure from Sudanese authorities since the affair.

The UN children’s fund UNICEF said last month it was working with the Chadian government to ensure stricter controls on charities after the Zoe’s Ark affair in order to restore trust in international aid workers. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said what he called the “attempted abduction” underscored the need for all involved to fully respect international law on the protection of children.

The controversy has also added to strains between France and Chad, just as Paris prepares to spearhead a 3,500-strong EU peacekeeping force in eastern Chad to protect refugee camps in the region bordering Darfur.