When Hissene Habre, the former Chadian president was first brought to trial on July 20, 2015, almost all the media houses in the world reported on his ‘childish and diversionary’ tactics in the Extraordinary African Chambers in Senegal. His refusal to speak to the court, his loud yells, trying to drown the voice of the court clerk reading out the names of his alleged victims and the determination of the judge to follow due process quickly made headlines.
Habre, whose 8 year tenure as the President of Chad- a land locked country in Central Africa-was characterized with several atrocities and human rights abuses. For almost 25 years, his victims have waited for justice. Instrumental to bringing justice to Habre is Souleyman Guengueng, one of his torture victims in the 80’s. Souleyman started gathering evidences from other victims and their families. With over 700 valid testimonies from Souleyman and the help of the Human Rights Watch, a case was made against Habre who had fled to Senegal. Eventually, the path to justice for these human rights abuse victims became clear when the International Court of Justice ordered Senegal to prosecute or extradite the ex-president.
Who is Hissene Habre?
Born into the Toubou ethnic group in northern chad, Habre’s family were shepherds. However, after his primary education, he was given a grant to study in France. Years after his return from his studies in France, Habre was appointed as the country’s prime minister in 1978. After the expiration of his term as the prime minister, Habre hungered for a bigger ambition- to be the President. In 1982, he staged a coup that successfully deposed Goukouni Oueddei and Habre became the new president and in order to become more secure, he abolished the post of the prime minister.
Since Habre was president from 1982 till 1992, when he was overthrown in a coup by the current president, Idriss Deby Itno, and there were several cases of unrest and indiscriminate killings. Most of these atrocities were carried out by the dreaded Documentation and Security Directorate (DDS), whose directors reported directly to Habre. Anyone that was suspected to oppose his government was subjected to torture, long term imprisonment or death.
After he was overthrown in the 1992 coup, Habre fled to Senegal and tried to keep a low profile. However, after a four-year investigation, in 2005, he was placed under house arrest by the Senegalese authorities. The Senegalese authorities under pressure from several world leaders and human rights organizations proceeded to arrest Habre in 2013 and his trial began in July, 2015.
Habre’s trial status
Since the beginning of his trial, over 70 people have testified against the former dictator and if he is found guilty, he may be sentenced to a life-imprisonment.
His trial which was supposed to end this month has been postponed to November 9, 2015. According to the presiding judge and president of the Extraordinary African Chambers, Gberdao Kam, the court will use this time to review the records.
What could this new turn of justice mean for African countries?
According to the Human Rights Risk Atlas in 2014, 13 out of the 54 African countries are guilty of extreme human rights violation and this lends credibility to an account that says the continent is responsible for “55 percent of torture and mistreatment cases worldwide”. With this startling facts, Habre’s trial could be welcomed as a step in the right direction, as it shows that African countries are ready to prosecute crimes.
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