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Prosecuting International Crimes in Africa - PULP - University of ...

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CHAPTER<br />

8<br />

1 Introduction<br />

THE TRIAL OF HISSÈNE HABRÉ<br />

IN SENEGAL AND<br />

ITS CONTRIBUTION<br />

TO INTERNATIONAL<br />

CRIMINAL LAW<br />

* LL.B (Nd’jamena); LL.M (Pretoria); Legal Officer, Institute for Human Rights and<br />

Development <strong>in</strong> <strong>Africa</strong>, Banjul, The Gambia. I am grateful to Humphrey Sipalla for his<br />

comments on an earlier draft <strong>of</strong> this chapter.<br />

1 The Coup d’Etat was led by one <strong>of</strong> his close commanders, Colonel Idriss Déby Itno, who<br />

185<br />

Kameldy Neldj<strong>in</strong>gaye*<br />

Hissène Habré, former President <strong>of</strong> the Republic <strong>of</strong> Chad, ruled the<br />

country from 1982 until he was overthrown <strong>in</strong> 1990. 1 Dur<strong>in</strong>g his tenure as<br />

President <strong>of</strong> Chad, Hissène Habré <strong>in</strong>stituted an autocratic rule<br />

characterised by a s<strong>in</strong>gle party system and massive human rights<br />

violations. He ordered the collective arrests and mass murders <strong>of</strong> several<br />

Chadian ethnic groups when he believed that their leaders posed a threat<br />

to his regime. The Documentation and Security Directorate (DDS), a<br />

political police created by him and placed under his direct authority, 2<br />

perpetrated cruelty <strong>of</strong> almost <strong>in</strong>conceivable magnitude aga<strong>in</strong>st thousands<br />

<strong>of</strong> <strong>in</strong>dividuals suspected <strong>of</strong> not support<strong>in</strong>g his regime.<br />

After be<strong>in</strong>g deposed, Hissène Habré fled to Senegal where he resides<br />

today. On 26 January 2000, a compla<strong>in</strong>t was for the first time filed aga<strong>in</strong>st<br />

him by seven Chadian victims and the Chadian Association <strong>of</strong> Victims <strong>of</strong><br />

Political Repression and Crime (AVCRP) 3 before the Dakar Tribunal<br />

2<br />

3<br />

s<strong>in</strong>ce then became President <strong>of</strong> the Republic <strong>of</strong> Chad.<br />

The Documentation and Security Directorate was created by the Decree 005/PR <strong>of</strong> 6<br />

January 1983. Art 1 <strong>of</strong> the Decree provides that the DDS is ‘directly responsible to the<br />

<strong>of</strong>fice <strong>of</strong> the President <strong>of</strong> the Republic because <strong>of</strong> the confidential nature <strong>of</strong> its<br />

activities’. A National Commission <strong>of</strong> Inquiry set up by the Chadian government after<br />

Habré’s downfall from power underl<strong>in</strong>ed the dependence <strong>of</strong> the DDS on Hissène Habré<br />

by quot<strong>in</strong>g one <strong>of</strong> his former closest collaborator who stated that ‘… everyth<strong>in</strong>g<br />

concern<strong>in</strong>g the DDS is reserved for the president and no person <strong>of</strong> that time, regardless<br />

<strong>of</strong> his rank or post, can <strong>in</strong>terfere <strong>in</strong> the bus<strong>in</strong>ess <strong>of</strong> that <strong>of</strong>fice’; quoted from Amnesty<br />

<strong>International</strong> Chad: The Habré legacy (2001) 12.<br />

The French version <strong>of</strong> the compla<strong>in</strong>t is available at http://www.hrw.org/legacy/<br />

french/themes/habre-pla<strong>in</strong>te.html (accessed 4 March 2010).

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