Chad-CameroonPetroleumDevProject

Exxon now effectively in control of Chadian oil? "Already in 2005, Exxon informally made the departure of Petronas from Chad a condition of a 5% rise in royalties."

This Article will use the Chad/Cameroon project to illustrate why the World Bank should adopt a realistic and pro-active approach to human rights problems. Part II will examine the evolving interpretation of the Bank's mandate and the historical inconsistencies in its policy toward human rights issues. This examination will show that there are no theoretical obstacles preventing the Bank from interpreting its mandate liberally to include human rights considerations. Part III will draw on the development of the Chad/Cameroon pipeline controversy in order to highlight the importance of human rights considerations for the project's success. Part IV will argue in favor of the adoption of a more open and consistent human rights policy as an essential condition to improving the credibility of the Bank's operations. This reformulation is essential if the Bank aims to serve as the guardian of fairness in private investment and to improve the economic well-being of countries like Chad.

The Chadian government has continued to detain an unknown number of people without charges since rebels invaded the capital N'djamena for two days in early February, despite lifting a state of emergency on 15 March.

Despite mounting political instability in Chad and little tangible evidence of poverty reduction nearly four years after the start of oil production, the World Bank maintains that it is still "premature" to draw any final conclusions regarding the success of the petroleum development project. At the same time, the Bank's "Implementation Completion Report," issued in December 2006, rates performance on achievement of project objectives as "satisfactory."

Chad's recent history seems to be a permanent remake of the same old movie - of autocratic leaders facing armed opponents in a deadly power struggle, with the complicity and complexities of foreign interventions, completed by the scenes of civilians fleeing the battle zones.

Despite good intentions, no country has been formally validated as EITI-compliant. The risk now is that the initiative will allow countries to ride free, using the EITI label to continue business as usual. As a result, Publish What You Pay has called on companies and governments to deliver concrete results. The good news is that the EITI board is beginning to flex its muscles. If countries do not become validated within two years they risk losing their status. So far Chad, Trinidad and Tobago, and Bolivia have been disqualified.