On 20 May, Chad adopted a new anti-terrorism law, which no longer includes the death penalty for terrorism-related crimes, establishing life imprisonment as the hardest penalty instead. With this law, Chad has become the 22nd African state to abolish the death penalty for all crimes.

It sends a strong signal to other countries around the world and contributes to the gradual abolition of the death penalty in Africa. 80% of the Member States of the African Union are already abolitionists in law or in practice. The European Union is strongly opposed to the death penalty under all circumstances.

This decision by Chad is also a positive step towards the harmonization of the judicial framework of the G5 Sahel in the fight against terrorism. In their 28 April 2020 joint Declaration, the members of the European Council and the Member States of the G5 Sahel stressed the importance of ensuring respect of human rights and international humanitarian law in conducting their actions.