“Impunity is a cancer that prevents us from realizing our true potential” [1]

December 6, 2011
Jacqueline Moudeina, a leader in the fight to bring former Chadian dictator Hissène Habré to justice receives Right Livelihood Award

Jacqueline Moudeina, a leader in the fight to bring former Chadian dictator Hissène Habré to justice receives Right Livelihood Award

Jacqueline Moudeina is president of the Chadian Association for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (ATPDH) and has been the lawyer for the victims of the former dictator Hissène Habré since 2000. In 2001, Ms. Moudeina was seriously injured by a grenade thrown by security forces commanded by a former officer in Hissène Habré’s political police.
On December 5, 2011, Ms. Moudeina received the Right Livelihood Award 2011, which is considered to be the “Alternative Nobel Prize,” “for her tireless efforts at great personal risk to win justice for the victims of the former dictatorship in Chad and to increase awareness and observance of human rights in Africa” (http://www.rightlivelihood.org [4]).

This is her acceptance speech delivered at the Swedish parliament in Stockholm on December 5, 2011.

*****

Jacqueline Moudeina’s Remarks for the “Right Livelihood Award”

Honorable Ladies and Gentlemen,

Allow me to begin by sincerely thanking you for the distinguished honor that you are bestowing upon me through the “Right Livelihood Award.” This award recognizes me specifically but, beyond that, rewards all the human rights defenders in the world, and particularly in Africa.

Rest assured that it is a deeply encouraging sign for us, the human rights defenders, and especially for us, the women, who fight on a daily basis, in very difficult conditions, sometimes at the risk of our own lives, in a world where power is generally held by men. This award gives us the courage to continue our different struggles on a road fraught with pitfalls.

Fighting for victims is in my genes. I am a rebel who from an early age has been indignant in the face of abuse, and I cannot bear injustice. I have always felt this way and always will, as long as those who suffer injustice are ignored by their leaders and as long as justice is selective. Many have tried to prevent me from doing my work; many have tried to intimidate me, to psychologically and physically threaten me. But I have come to understand, as Alexis Voinov said in Albert Camus’ The Just Assassins, that “it isnot enough to speak out against injustice. You have to dedicate your life to fighting it.” Until now, no one has managed to discourage me or get the better of me. I will continue my fight.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I will seize this occasion to tell you about one aspect of our struggle for human rights: the fight against impunity.

In the past twenty years, the international community has undeniably made major strides in the fight against impunity for the worst criminals. But in Africa, much remains to be done. On this continent, impunity is a cancer that, with its corollary disease corruption, has infected our body politic and prevents us from realizing our true potential. We, the members of civil society, are fighting against this cancer, from Tunis to Harare, from Dakar to Khartoum, and in other places like Abidjan, Tripoli, and N’Djamena.

And yet, this justice that I am speaking about is not a science in the making. It isn’t a utopia. It is the most fundamental form of justice: criminal justice that allows victims to wash away the worst horrors, that gives back dignity to men who were tortured, and that gives back courage to women who have lost hope.

You only need to look at our struggle to bring to justice the former dictator of my country, Hissène Habré, to understand that today, in the twenty-first century, more than sixty years after the Nuremberg trials, it is sometimes easier to resort to oppression than to abide by the law, easier to commit violence than to deliver justice!

Habré ruled Chad from 1982 to 1990 until his overthrow and exile in Senegal. During his reign, atrocities were committed on a large scale, waves of ethnic cleansing crashed down on individual groups, and torture was institutionalized. In 1992, a national Commission of Inquiry estimated that his regime was responsible for the death of more than 40,000 people and the disappearance of thousands of individuals, leaving in its wake innumerable widows and orphans.

The victims of the Habré regime, whom I represent, have fought tirelessly for justice for twenty-one years. But to date their struggle remains unfinished. Before leaving power, Hissène Habré emptied out Chad’s national coffers and has skillfully used these funds in Senegal to weave himself a powerful network of protection. And so, instead of allowing the victims’ case to be heard, Senegal and the African Union have subjected them to what Archbishop Desmond Tutu and 117 organizations from twenty-five African countries rightly denounced as an “interminable political and legal soap opera.” I would say even more: a true stations of the cross for the victims.

In January 2000, we filed a complaint against Hissène Habré in Senegal where he now lives. One month later, the decision by a Senegalese judge to indict Habré gave us real hope.

However, following political inference, denounced by the United Nations, the Senegalese courts declared that they lacked jurisdiction.

The victims then turned toward Belgium which offered them a path to justice. After a four-year investigation, a Belgian judge issued an international arrest warrant against Habré in 2005. The victims once again felt real hope that they might see Hissène Habré brought to justice for his alleged crimes.

But once again, the victims were disappointed when Senegal refused to extradite Habré to Belgium.

In May 2006, the UN Committee against Torture condemned Senegal for its failure to act and enjoined Senegal to prosecute or extradite the former Chadian dictator.

In July 2006, the heads of state and government leaders of the African Union gave Senegal a mandate to prosecute Habré “in the name of Africa.” It was another step forward.

But our renewed hope to see Habré tried was short-lived. For four years, Senegal conditioned the start of investigations on the up-front payment by the international community of all the costs of the trial. When the international community committed to such payment, President Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal suddenly refused to execute the mandate conferred by the African Union and, in June 2011, finally declared that Senegal would not prosecute Hissène Habré.

Since then, Belgium, a country to which I express thanks on behalf of all the victims, has renewed its extradition request.

But now, the African Union now talks of sending Habré to Rwanda and starting everything all over again. What an outrage! What a loss of time, when the surviving victims are dying one after the other! More than a dozen victims have passed away this year alone. A request to transfer Habré to Rwanda would entail many more years of waiting, the time that it would take for Rwanda to create an adequate legislative framework, to conduct an investigation, and to issue an extradition request, whereas a trial in Belgium could take place quickly.

This is yet another dilatory tactic by the African Union, and calls into question the institution’s commitment to the fight against impunity. With a few exceptions, African leaders, who say that they want to free themselves of the tutelage of international tribunals and the extradition requests of Western countries, are revealing that they form nothing more than a club of heads of states ensuring their own impunity.

It is time for Senegal to grant victims the justice that they have demanded by extraditing Habré to Belgium where he can be tried. The victims cannot wait any longer. Psychologically and physically, they have suffered severe trauma that has taken a heavy toll over the years.

The Chadian government itself, last July, requested, and I quote, that the “option to extradite Habré to Belgium to face trial be given priority.” Why is President Wade denying us justice? Why is the African Union failing to listen to the victims? Why do Senegal and the African Union not support the position of Chad, the country most directly concerned by this case, which is to see Habré tried in Belgium?

I would like to seize this opportunity today to voice the victims’ plea, and to call on Senegal to extradite Habré to Belgium, to enable them at last to obtain justice.

This case isn’t just about one man, however, but rather it is about one of the most tyrannical regimes of the last century.This regime is usually identified with one man, Habré, but we have not forgotten about his accomplices, the executioners and torturers who carried out the former dictator’s orders. These ex-agents of Habré’s terrifying political police, known as the “Documentation and Security Directorate,” must also face justice before the Chadian courts and must be removed from public service. This was already one of the main recommendations of the National Commission of Inquiry in 1992.

Some of these accomplices continue to haunt us by taunting and threatening us in our daily lives. But we will not drop this fight. I myself was targeted in 2001 for my involvement in the Habré case. During a peaceful march in favor of democracy, a police squad attempted to assassinate me with a grenade. Its commander was none other than a former torturer against whom the victims had initiated a judicial procedure in Chad.

This event illustrates the educational value of a trial: how could this former torturer still believe that a dictator’s weapon is more powerful than a judge’s gavel? Despite this attempted assassination, I have never relented, and I will continue my efforts until Habré and the other executioners are brought to justice.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The challenge of our struggle, above and beyond the trial of one individual, is that of national union for a lasting peace in my country. Today, the trial of Hissène Habré and his accomplices would allow the Chadian people to begin, at last, the reconstruction of their country. And it is only at the end of this process that the Chadian people will be able to truly come together and enjoy a rebirth.

In the struggle to end the impunity of some powerful leaders, justice has so far been an elusive dream. But this award which you bestow on me today is a tribute to the thousands of victims, widows, and orphans.

And it is to these individuals that I dedicate this award. We will not give up.This award reaffirms that we are right and encourages us to continue our fight against impunity.

Thank you for your attention.

Source URL: http://www.hrw.org/news/2011/12/06/impunity-cancer-prevents-us-realizing-our-true-potential
Links:
[1] http://www.hrw.org/news/2011/12/06/impunity-cancer-prevents-us-realizing-our-true-potential
[2] http://twitter.com/share?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hrw.org%2Fnews%2F2011%2F12%2F06%2Fimpunity-cancer-prevents-us-realizing-our-true-potential&count=horizontal&via=&text=%E2%80%9CImpunity%20is%20a%20cancer%20that%20prevents%20us%20from%20realizing%20our%20true%20potential%E2%80%9D&counturl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hrw.org%2Fnews%2F2011%2F12%2F06%2Fimpunity-cancer-prevents-us-realizing-our-true-potential
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[4] http://www.rightlivelihood.org

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United Nations: A Move Toward Prosecuting Chad’s Ex-Dictator

November 29, 2011

Torture Panel Tells Senegal to Prosecute or Extradite Habré

(Geneva) – The United Nations Committee against Torture (“the Committee”) has called on Senegal to comply with its obligation to prosecute or extradite Chad’s exiled former dictator, Hissène Habré, Human Rights Watch said today.

The Committee’s action came after Senegal announced that it would not prosecute Habré in Senegal, and Belgium introduced a new extradition request to try Habré.

“The UN has stood up for Habre’s thousands of victims who have been seeking justice from Senegal for 21 years,” said Reed Brody, counsel with Human Rights Watch, who represents the victims before the Committee. “Since Senegal refuses to prosecute Habré, it needs to extradite him to Belgium right away.”

Habré is accused of thousands of political killings and systematic torture when he ruled Chad from 1982 to 1990, before fleeing to Senegal. The government of Senegal over the years has refused, then agreed under pressure, and finally refused again to prosecute him.

The Committee consists of 10 experts elected by the 149 states that have ratified the UN Convention against Torture. In 2006, following a petition by Habré’s victims, the Committee found Senegal in breach of its legal duty to bring Habré to justice. In a letter to Senegal’s permanent representative in Geneva dated November 24, 2011,the Committee’s rapporteur, Fernando Mariño, recalled its 2006 decision and said that if Senegal was not going to prosecute Habré, it must, under the convention, extradite him to Belgium or another country that will prosecute him.

In the letter, the UN rapporteur noted that Senegal had failed to institute action against Habré and said that “the Committee wishes therefore to remind [Senegal] of its obligation under the Convention against Torture, to submit the case to its competent authorities for the purpose of prosecution or failing that, since Belgium has made an extradition request, to comply with that request,” or another extradition request made pursuant to the convention.

In July 2010, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and 117 groups from 25 African countries denounced the “interminable political and legal soap opera” to which Habré’s victims had been subjected over 20 years.

Habré was first indicted in Senegal in 2000, but following political interference, the country’s courts said that he could not be tried there. His victims then filed a case in Belgium. After years of investigation, in September 2005, a Belgian judge requested his extradition. Senegal asked the African Union (AU) to recommend a course of action, and in July 2006, the AU called on Senegal to prosecute Habré “on behalf of Africa.” Years of stalling ensued, however, even after international donors fully funded the US$11.9 million trial budget in November 2010.

In May, Senegal walked out of talks with the AU over the trial and made clear that it would not prosecute Habré in Senegal. On July 10, President Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal reversed a decision announced two days earlier to expel Habré to Chad, where he has been sentenced to death in absentia.

Belgium then made a new extradition request, which is pending. On July 22, the government of Chad announced that it was in favor of extraditing Habré to Belgium. Although Rwanda recently announced that it was also willing to try Habré in its courts, Human Rights Watch and Habré’s victims believe that this option would lead to many more years of delay before the trial could be held.

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Statement of the Steering Committee of the International Committee for the Fair Trial of Hissène Habré

October 27, 2011

Hissène Habré Case: A Real Solution Or More Dilatory Tactics?

The victims of the former Chadian dictator Hissène Habré have been fighting for more than 20 years to bring him to justice in a fair trial so that he can answer for the crimes committed by his government from 1982 to 1990.

Despite our efforts, the time has come to face the fact that the justice tirelessly sought by the victims has not been forthcoming. We have been subjected since 1990 to what Archbishop Desmond Tutu and 117 groups from 25 African countries denounced in July 2010 as an “interminable political and legal soap opera.”

On July 22, 2011, the Chadian government took the responsible decision to ask Senegal to extradite Habré to Belgium, which had sought his extradition in 2005 after Senegal courts ruled that they could not try him. A new Belgian extradition request submitted in September is pending before the Senegalese courts.

Faced with Senegal’s clear and repeated lack of will to prosecute Habré, we consider that extraditing him to Belgium is the most practical and timely option to ensure that he can respond to the charges against him with all the guarantees of a fair trial. Belgium is the only country that has received and listened to the victims and that continues to offer them a path toward justice.

In Belgium, a trial could be organized quickly, which is essential given that many survivors have already died. The victims of Habré’s crimes should be able to testify about their experience and to participate actively in his trial.

A Belgian investigating judge, with the assistance of police detectives specialized in the prosecution of crimes against humanity, examined the charges for four years. The team visited Chad in 2002, interrogating Habré’s former accomplices and visiting detention centers and former mass graves. It seized and analyzed copies of thousands of documents of Habré’s political police (the “DDS”), which revealed the identity of 1,208 people who died in detention and 12,321 victims of torture or other human rights violations. This strong evidence allowed the Belgian judge to indict Habré on charges of crimes against humanity, war crimes, and torture, and allowed Belgium to request his extradition.

In addition to the time factor, Belgium offers the conditions for holding an exemplary trial:

An independent judicial system;
Respect for fair trial rights;
The capacity to investigate and try a complex case involving mass crimes committed more than 20 years ago in a foreign country, largely due to its experience in similar cases;
A civil party (partie civile) system, which allows victims to participate fully in the trial;
Use of the French language, which is spoken by the accused and most of the victims;
An environment conducive to raising public awareness around a trial that will take place far away from Chad, including freedom of expression and the ability to make video and audio recordings of the court proceedings to be transmitted in Chad; and
Free access to the trial for non-governmental organizations and journalists who can monitor proceedings and encourage public debate.

We take note of the willingness and availability of Rwanda to organize this trial, in response to an inquiry by the African Union. The offer brings honor to Rwanda, which has also suffered from atrocities committed on its territory and which therefore understands the stakes and the need for justice for the victims to foster national reconciliation.

However, we wonder whether this option, put forward by the AU, is yet another dilatory tactic which calls into question its efforts to see Habré tried according to the strict dictates of the law. The law offers a clear response to Senegal’s refusal, for more than five years, to discharge the mandate of the African Union: the extradition of Habré to Belgium.

Moreover, we are particularly concerned that additional years might be needed for Rwanda to enact a legal framework allowing its courts to prosecute crimes that have no direct link to the country, to secure financing for the trial, to restart a complex transnational investigation, and to request Habré’s extradition. Many more survivors would be likely to die during those years.

We both understand and share the desire to see Habré tried in Africa. More than anyone, we have relentlessly attempted to bring about such a trial for years. We filed a complaint against Habré in Senegal in 2000. We presented to Senegalese judicial authorities hundreds of witness statements gathered in Chad and an analysis of the thousands of documents uncovered at the DDS headquarters that reveal in detail the scope of the crimes committed. And, between 2007 and 2010, we mobilized the international community to finance Habré’s trial in Senegal.

Today the most realistic option to avoid impunity for the mass crimes allegedly committed by Hissène Habré, and the option supported by Chad, is to extradite him for trial to Belgium. We call on the international community, and in particular the African Union, to support this option so that the victims can finally obtain justice.

The Steering Committee:
The Association of Victims of the Crimes of Hissène Habré (AVCRHH)
The Chadian Association for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (ATPDH)
The African Assembly for the Defense of Human Rights (RADDHO)
Human Rights Watch
The International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH)

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Right Livelihood Award: Standing up for Victims of Chad’s Ex-Dictator

September 30, 2011

Jacqueline Moudeïna, Lawyer for Habré’s Victims, Gets ‘Alternative Nobel Prize’

(New York) – The decision to give the Right Livelihood Award to Jacqueline Moudeïna, the lawyer for the victims of the exiled former dictator of Chad, Hissène Habré, highlights the victims’ 20-year quest to bring Habré to justice, Human Rights Watch said today.

The award, announced on September 29, 2011, in Stockholm, cited Moudeïna, “for her tireless efforts at great personal risk to win justice for the victims of the former dictatorship in Chad and to increase awareness and observance of human rights in Africa.” The award, presented annually in the Swedish parliament, is widely known as the “Alternative Nobel Prize.” It is the first time that a Right Livelihood Award goes to a Chadian. The other three laureates in 2011 are Huang Ming (China), Ina May Gaskin (USA) and the international organization GRAIN.

“Jacky Moudeïna has risked everything, including her life, to bring Hissène Habré to justice,” said Reed Brody, counsel and spokesperson for Human Rights Watch. “This award shines a spotlight on Senegal’s refusal, after 20 long years, to give Habré’s victims their day in court.”

In July 2010, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and 117 groups from 25 African countries denounced the “interminable political and legal soap opera” to which Habré’s victims had been subjected over 20 years.

Habré ruled Chad from 1982 until he was deposed in 1990 by the current president, Idriss Déby Itno, and fled to Senegal. Habré’s one-party rule was marked by widespread atrocities, including waves of ethnic violence.  Files of Habré’s political police, the DDS, which were discoveredby Human Rights Watch, reveal the names of 1,208 people who were killed or died in detention and 12,321 victims of human rights violations.

Habré was first indicted in Senegal in 2000, but its courts ruled that he could not be tried there.  His victims then filed a case in Belgium. After years of investigation, a Belgian judge in September 2005 issued an international arrest warrant against Habré, and Belgium requested his extradition. Senegal asked the African Union to recommend a course of action and in July 2006, the African Union called on Senegal to prosecute Habré “on behalf of Africa.” Years of stalling ensued, however, even after international donors fully funded the US$11.9 million trial budget in November 2010.

In May 2011, Senegal walked out of talks with the AU over the trial and made clear that it would not prosecute Habré in Senegal. On July 10, President Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal reversed a decision announced two days earlier to expel Habré to Chad, where he has been sentenced to death in absentia. Belgium made a second extradition request, which is pending.

In addition to the cases against Habré, Moudeïna took an enormous personal risk by filing criminal complaints in Chad itself against a number of Habré’s accomplices, including the heads of the DDS, many of whom are still in positions of power in Chad. In June 2001, a security squad, led by Mahamat Wakayé, one of the men she is suing, threw a grenade at her while she was participating in a peaceful demonstration in N’Djaména, the Chadian capital. Moudeïna was severely injured from the shrapnel and still walks with difficulty ten years later.

“Jacky Moudeïna’s work is a direct challenge to the continuing power of those who terrorized Chad in the Habré years,” Brody said. “Her determination to stand up for torture victims at great personal sacrifice is a shining example to us all.”

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Senegal/Chad: Nobel Winners, African Activists Seek Progress in Habré Trial

July 21, 2011

African Union, Which Sought Senegal Trial 4 Years Ago, Should Take Action

(Dakar) – The Nobel Peace Prize winners Bishop Desmond Tutu and Shirin Ebadi, as well as 117 African human rights groups from 25 countries, called today for the government of Senegal and the African Union to move forward with the trial of  Hissène Habré.  The exiled former dictator of Chad is accused of thousands of political killings and systematic torture.

African heads of state will come together in Kampala from July 25 to 27, 2010, for an AU summit, four years after the AU mandated Senegal “to prosecute and ensure that Hissène Habré is tried, on behalf of Africa.” Senegal has not yet begun proceedings against Habré, however, claiming that it is still waiting for international funding.

“The victims of Mr. Habré’s regime have been working tirelessly for 20 years to bring him to justice, and many of the survivors have already died,” says a petition to Senegal and the AU signed by the groups, the Nobel winners, and other prominent figures. “Instead of justice, the victims have been treated to an interminable political and legal soap opera.”

Habré ruled Chad from 1982 until he was deposed in 1990 by President Idriss Déby Itno and fled to Senegal. His one-party regime was marked by widespread atrocities, including waves of ethnic campaigns. Files of Habré’s political police reveal the names of 1,208 people who were killed or died in detention. A total of 12,321 victims of human rights violations were mentioned in the files.

Habré was first indicted in Senegal in 2000, but after political interference denounced by two United Nations rapporteurs, Senegalese courts said they had no jurisdiction to try the case. His victims then turned to Belgium and, after a four-year investigation, a Belgian judge charged Habré in September 2005 with crimes against humanity, war crimes, and torture.  After Senegal rejected a Belgian extradition request,  President Abdoulaye Wade accepted an AU request to put  Habré on trial in Senegal.

On July 1, after years of discussions on the budget, the AU and the European Union announced that a donors’ meeting had been set for sometime in October. Agreement has not been reached yet on the final budget, however.

Among the signatories of the petition are Richard Goldstone of South Africa, the first prosecutor of the UN war crimes tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and for Rwanda and head of the Gaza fact-finding commission, as well as the leading human rights organizations in Chad and Senegal, the Foundation for Human Rights of South Africa, the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights, the Kenya Human Rights Commission, and the Association Africaine pour la Défense des Droits de l’Homme (DRC).

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Senegal: Accept AU Plan for Hissène Habré Case

March 22, 2011

African Union Proposed Special Court for Long-Awaited Trial of Chad’s Ex-Dictator
March 22, 2011
(Dakar) – Senegal should accept an African Union (AU) plan for the trial of Hissène Habré during discussions set for March 23 and 24, 2011, in Addis Ababa, a coalition of human rights organizations said today in a letter to Senegal’s president.

The African Union, which called at its summit in January for an “expeditious” start to a long-delayed trial, invited Senegal to the Ethiopian capital to discuss an AU proposal to try the former Chadian dictator before a special court within the Senegalese justice system whose president and appeals chamber president would be appointed by the AU.  The Senegalese delegation to the talks will be led by Justice Minister Cheikh Tidiane Sy.

Habré is accused of thousands of political killings and systematic torture when he ruled Chad, from 1982 to 1990, before fleeing to Senegal. Senegal has raised one objection after another to bringing him to trial, while refusing to send him to Belgium, which sought his extradition in 2005.

“Senegal has two choices,” said Assane Dioma Ndiaye, Président of the Senegalese League for Human Rights. “Either it accepts the African Union plan and begins proceedings against Habré right away, or it extradites Habré to Belgium. It would be a shame if Africa could not meet this challenge when everything is set for an African country to provide a fair trial for any crimes committed in Africa.”

President Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal said recently that he was “returning” the case to the AU, and Foreign Minister Madické Niang has called for the establishment of an international tribunal to prosecute Habré.

The letter to President Wade was signed by  the Association of Victims of Hissène Habré’s Regime, the Senegalese League for Human Rights, the African Assembly for the Defense of Human Rights, Acting Together for Human Rights (Agir Ensemble pour les Droits de l’Homme), and Human Rights Watch. The letter warned that it would be impossible to finance  an international tribunal,and that any attempt to create an ad hoc tribunal along the Sierra Leone or Rwanda models, or to add  significant international staff to the AU proposal, would be seen as a way of ” burying the case.”

Last Friday, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay, also told President Wade that the Habré trial should begin “as soon as possible,” and that if Senegal could not begin the case quickly, it should extradite Habré to Belgium.

Background
Habré ruled Chad from 1982 until he was deposed in 1990 by President Idriss Déby Itno and fled to Senegal. His one-party regime was marked by widespread atrocities, including waves of campaigns against various ethnic groups.  Files of Habré’s political police, the Documentation and Security Board (Direction de la Documentation et de la Sécurité, DDS), which were discovered by Human Rights Watch in 2001, reveal the names of 1,208 people who were killed or died in detention. A total of 12,321 victims of human rights violations were mentioned in the files.

Habre was first indicted in Senegal in 2000, but then Senegalese courts ruled that he could not be tried there. His victims then turned to Belgium, and after a four-year investigation, a Belgian judge in September 2005 issued an arrest warrant charging Habré with crimes against humanity, war crimes, and torture, and requested his extradition.

Senegal then asked the African Union to recommend a course of action. On July 2, 2006, the AU called on Senegal to prosecute Habré. Wade accepted, but refused to proceed for several years, until Senegal was provided with money to finance the trial. On November 24, 2010, international donors met in Dakar and agreed to fund the US$11.7 million budget for the trial.

Before the donors’ meeting, the Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States said that Habré’s trial should be carried out by “a special ad hoc procedure of an international character.” That decision has been severely criticized by the Journal of International Criminal Justice, the American Society of International Law , and the President of the Irish Section of the  International Law Association.

The AU responded to that decision by proposing the creation of a special court within the Senegalese justice system with the presidents of the trial court and the appeals court appointed by the AU.  The court would prosecute the person or persons “who bear the greatest responsibility” for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and torture committed in Chad from June 1982 to December 1990.

In July 2010, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and 117 groups from 25 African countries denounced the “interminable political and legal soap opera” to which the victims had been subjected over 20 years.

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Chad’s Habre Said to Know of Prison Deaths

February 3, 2010
Former Chadian dictator Hissene Habre

Former Chadian President Hissène Habré (file), Photo: AFP

A new study shows that former Chadian President Hissene Habre knew about hundreds of deaths in prisons operated by his political police.


Mr. Habre has been under house arrest in Senegal since 2000.  He fled to Senegal after being deposed in 1990 and has since been accused of thousands of political killings and cases of torture during his eight years in power.

An international coalition of human-rights organizations has announced a new study of abandoned files from the state security force that operated prisons under President Habre shows he was well-informed of its actions.

Demba Cire Bathily, a Dakar-based lawyer for the victims, says these findings could be critical for the case against Mr. Habre.

He says this study looked at 2,700 administrative reports and established a direct link between Hissene Habre and the state security force, responsible for acts of torture.  He says the evidence shows Mr. Habre was aware of what was going on and received reports of deaths.

More than 12,000 victims are mentioned in the documents, including 1,208 who died in detention.  Analysts also say the study confirms reports of deplorable conditions in the prisons.

Under international law, individuals can be found criminally responsible for human-rights violations, if they knew or should have known that forces under their control were committing crimes and failed to act to prevent them or punish those responsible.

In 2006, the African Union called for Senegal to try Mr. Habre on behalf of Africa.  Since then, Senegal has adopted laws that would allow it to do so, but the case is at a standstill.

Senegal has said it wants all $38 million of a trial’s proposed three-year budget up front, a demand the international community is reluctant to agree to, especially because Senegal has not offered a clear plan on how it will conduct the trial.

Wednesday marks the 10-year anniversary of the first Habre’s indictment in Senegal.  In those 10 years, many of the the victims have died.  And, human-rights advocates worry that Senegal does not have the political will to try him.

Bathily says Habre’s victims have also become victims of time and Senegal’s inertia.

He says those victims who have already died will never receive justice.  It is a deplorable situation, he says, that is made even worse by the fact that Senegal has all the judicial measures in place to prosecute someone for these serious crimes but still does nothing.  He says Chad’s former president is charged with war crimes, crimes against humanity and acts of torture, but he walks free and Senegal says it will not judge him until it receives the money.

In October 2008, Mr. Habre filed a complaint with the court of the Economic Community of West African States to block his trial for crimes against humanity in Senegal, citing violations of his rights.  The ECOWAS court ruled in November 2009 that victims may not take part in those proceedings, but has not yet determined whether it has jurisdiction to hear the Habre case.

European Union and African Union representatives visited Senegal in December, 2009 and are expected to propose a revised budget for bringing Mr. Habre to trial in Senegal.

Human-rights advocates have called on the African Union to take this week’s AU summit in Ethiopia as a chance to prod Senegal to move forward.

source: voanews.com

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Dakar challenges regional court’s power to try Habre: official

January 14, 2010

LAGOS — Senegal Thursday challenged the competence of west Africa’s regional court to hear Chad’s former president Hissene Habre’s suit against Dakar’s efforts to try him for alleged rights violations, a court spokesman said.

At the court session in Abuja, Dakar government lawyers filed an objection against the hearing of Habre’s suit, arguing that their country, a sovereign state, was at liberty to make its laws, amend them and try offenders, Felicien Hounkarin told AFP.

They confirmed that they amended their laws, including those dealing with torture, to allow them to conform with UN international conventions and in order to enable Dakar to try cases of rights violations and torture, he said.

Habre’s lawyers argued that Senegal’s decision to amend its laws specifically targeted Habre and that his rights could be violated if he was tried in the west African country, he also said.

They urged the court of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to stop Habre’s trial in Senegal, he added.

“If he is tried in Senegal, he will be the sole person to be so treated and this trial will amount to selective justice. He is not going to get justice and a fair hearing in Senegal,” Habre’s leading lawyer, Francois Serres, told AFP by telephone from Abuja.

“Even now, a lot of rights violations are going on in Senegal in Dakar’s preparation of this case. We are worried that he might be indicted if tried in Senegal,” Serres said.

Habre, accused of “crimes against humanity” which Senegal is charged with the responsibility of trying, has alleged the violation of some of his rights by Dakar. He has lived in exile in the Senegalese capital since 1990.

Habre has been blamed for killing and torturing thousands during his 1982-90 rule when he was toppled and fled.

An official truth commission report in 1992 accused Habre’s regime of committing some 40,000 political murders.

Habre’s lawyers in October filed a suit in Senegal against the violation of his rights under various articles of the African Charter on Human Rights.

Awa Daboya Nana, president of the ECOWAS court, adjourned until March 17 his ruling on whether or not the tribunal was competent to hear Habre’s suit, Serres said.

The court on November 17 rejected attempts by victims of Habre to take part in the rights violation suit the ex-dictator filed against Senegal.

The request of the victims was represented by the global rights lobby, Human Rights Watch (HRW).

The judge had said the “application for intervention is inadmissible” because the interveners had already “initiated many proceedings before jurisdictions that can offer the protection of their rights”.HRW lawyer Clement Nwankwo said that the victims wanted to be part of the suit because it “seems to exclude a review of the case of extradition and other trials that are pending outside of the jurisdiction of ECOWAS court”.

source: AFP

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Court unable to hear Habre trial

December 16, 2009
Habre

Former Chadian dictator, Hissene Habre (file)

Arusha, Tanzania -The African human rights court, in its first ever case on Tuesday, ruled itself incompetent to decide whether charges against Chad’s former president Hissene Habre should be dropped.

The Tanzania-based African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights was hearing a petition lodged in 2008 by a Chadian national, Michelot Yogogombaye, seeking to have Habre’s planned trial in Senegal quashed.

The African Union, which established the court in 2006, had in the same year called for Habre’s case to be heard in Senegal, where he has been exiled since his toppling in 1990.

The former Chadian dictator is facing crimes against humanity charges stemming from accusations of killing and torturing tens of thousands during his rule between 1982 and 1990.

“The court unanimously declares that it is incompetent to decide on the petition by Mr Yogogombaye against Senegal,” read a ruling.

It added that Senegal had not made any official communication acknowledging the court’s competence to hear petitions filed directly by individuals or non-governmental groups.

Yogogombaye had asked the judges to “take note, in the current case made for the inculpation and judgement of Hissein Habre, of the political character, the financial motive and the abusive use of the principle of universal jurisdiction.”

Yogogombaye, who lives in Switzerland and who was absent during Tuesday’s ruling, had suggested a South African-style truth and reconciliation commission to deal with crimes committed in Chad between 1962 and 2008.

- AFP

source: News24.com

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Sale temps pour l’ancien dictateur Tchadien Hissène Habré !

December 16, 2009

Sale temps pour l’ancien dictateur Tchadien Hissène Habré ! Alors que le Sénégal attend encore des sous pour ouvrir son procès, une gifle est tombée hier sur sa joue. Pour ceux qui ne se souviennent pas, Michelot Yogombaye, un citoyen tchadien résidant en Suisse avait introduit le 11 août 2008 une requête devant la Cour africaine des droits de l’homme et des peuples, pour demander à ce que les poursuites engagées contre Hissène Habré soient abandonnées. Le gars, sans doute activé, n’a pas eu gain de cause puisque la Cour, basée à Arusha, vient de rendre son verdict.

Habré (bis)

En effet, hier la Cour africaine des droits de l’homme, présidée par Jean Mutsinzi, un juge Rwandais, a rejeté la requête. Selon lui : « La Cour, à l’unanimité, déclare qu’elle n’a pas compétence pour connaître de la requête introduite par M. Yogogombaye contre le Sénégal ». Surtout que pour le moment, la Cour n’a pas autorité pour se prononcer sur les affaires qui concernent les dignitaires sénégalais.

source: Xalimasn.com

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