A special court in Senegal sentenced former Chadian dictator Hissene Habre to life in prison on Monday for war crimes, crimes against humanity and a litany of other charges, including rape.
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Habre was convicted of being responsible for thousands of deaths and tortures in prisons during his rule from 1982 to 1990.
Maud Jullien’s report from Chad contains disturbing details from the trial.
– January 2000: Seven Chadians file suit against Habre in Dakar for crimes against humanity and acts of torture.
Habre’s reign ended as dramatically as it had begun when Deby, a formerly loyal general, led a rebel force that drove him from power and into exile in Senegal.
Habre refused to acknowledge the legitimacy of the court and had to be physically dragged into the courtroom in July. “I have hope and the impression that we will have a winning and victorious result… we’ve been ready for this day”, said the founder of the association of Habre’s victims.
A 1992 Chadian Truth Commission accused Habre’s government of up to 40,000 political murders as well as systematic torture, mostly by his feared intelligence police, the Documentation and Security Directorate (DDS). If they do, an appeals court must be set up.
– June 2012: New Senegalese President Macky Sall says Habre will be tried in Senegal and rules out his extradition.
Belgium issued an arrest warrant for him in September 2005, and he was arrested in Senegal shortly after, but the African country said its courts did not have the jurisdiction to rule on a Belgian extradition request.
Victims were subject to electric shocks and waterboarding while some had gas sprayed into their eyes or spice rubbed into their genitals, the court heard.
“A verdict proportionate with the crimes committed by Habre will allow many families to properly mourn and offer some comfort from the suffering we former prisoners endured”, he said.
The former dictator lived freely for more than 20 years in an upmarket Dakar suburb with his wife and children, swapping his military garb for billowing white robes and a cap.
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“This landmark decision should also provide impetus to the African Union or individual African states to replicate such efforts to deliver justice to victims in other countries in the continent”, said Gaetan Mootoo, an Amnesty International West Africa researcher.
