The former head of state was escorted to the courtroom by Senegalese security forces.
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“Down with imperialism, down with neocolonialism”, the former president, dressed all in white, cried as he was removed from the bench minutes later.
Since that time, Habre refuses to recognize the legitimacy of the court and has decided not to cooperate with the hearings.
As mentioned by Youssou Ndoye, a traditional leader in Dakar, the trial should not be happening.
Chaos has erupted as security forces ushered former Chadian dictator Hissene Habre into and then out of the Senegal courtroom where he faces charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity following a protest by his supporters.
In December 1990 the doors were opened to the prison cells in N’Djamena.
Reed Brody, a lawyer at Human Rights Watch who has worked on the case since 1999, said Habre’s stance reflected “a cowardice and a lack of respect which can only be contrasted with the courage of the survivors”.
A Chadian truth commission found in 1992 that the Habre regime was responsible for 40,000 deaths and disappearances, leading many to dub him Africa’s Pinochet, after the Chilean military ruler Augusto Pinochet.
“We must have the capacity to try our own leaders right here in Africa. And it is being staged to reconcile us with ourselves”, said Chadian Justice Minister Mahamat Issa Halikim.
Macky Sall, Wade’s successor who took office in April 2012 vowed to organise a trial in Senegal.
Delayed for years by Senegal, where Habre has lived since fleeing Chad, the trial sets an historic precedent as until now African leaders accused of atrocities have been tried in worldwide courts.
It is the first trial in Africa of a universal jurisdiction case, in which a country’s national courts can prosecute serious crimes committed overseas, by a foreigner and against foreign victims, said Human Rights Watch.
“There was a lot of suffering, a lot of pain”, he said about his time in jail until 1989.
The proceedings, due to last around three months, will be heard by a Special African Chamber (CAE) created in 2013 by Senegal and the African Union.
The chambers indicted Mr Habre in July 2013 and placed him in pre-trial custody while four investigating judges spent 19 months interviewing a few 2,500 witnesses and victims and analysing thousands of documents.
Many of his alleged victims have been calling for the trial since his overthrow and exile in Senegal in 1990.
Chadian lawyer Jacqueline Moudeina told a news conference in Dakar in June the trial would be “a turning point for justice in Africa and will sound an alarm for all the dictators whose crimes will one day catch up with them”.
The case against Habre turns on whether he personally ordered the killing and torture of political opponents and ethnic rivals.
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‘This is a first in Africa, and we must extend congratulations for this, ‘ said Mbaye Gueye, a neutral legal representative who addressed the court and called for a fair trial.
