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

188 Chapter 8
Inquiry, 18 the work it carried out remains the most extensive investigation
ever carried out on the alleged human rights violations committed during
the Habré era. 19
2.1 Torture
Torture was committed systematically and at the highest levels of the
Chadian state from 1982 to 1990, the period during which Hissène Habré
was President. CAT defines torture as: 20
any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is
intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or
a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a
third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or
intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on
discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at
the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or
other person acting in an official capacity. It does not include pain or suffering
arising only from, inherent in or incidental to lawful sanctions.
During the presidency of Habré, thousands of people suspected of not
supporting his regime were taken to secret detention centres controlled by
the DDS 21 and were subjected to torture and cruel, inhuman and
degrading treatment. The UN Special Rapporteur on Torture draws a clear
distinction between torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, by
asserting that the decisive criteria for distinguishing the first from the
second ‘may best be understood to be the purpose of the conduct and the
powerlessness of the victim, rather than the intensity of the pain or
suffering inflicted.’ 22 Torture was used by DDS agents to obtain
confessions, punish or simply instill fear in the victims.
18 The National Commission of Inquiry did not receive any form of assistance from the
international community and had even to fight to obtain a minimal budget. The
Commission was obliged to use the former offices of the DDS since it had no
headquarters and that discouraged some victims from coming and giving evidence.
Furthermore, former members of the DDS who had been appointed in high positions
within some governmental agencies such as the new Centre de Recherches et de
Coordination de Renseignements (Centre for Research and Co-ordination of Intelligence),
were accused of intimidating the victims and witnesses. See Amnesty international (n 2
above) 5 & 6.
19 The Commission of Inquiry was able to interview over 1 700 people, including 662
former detainees, 786 close relatives of victims who died in detention or were
summarily executed, 236 prisoners of war, 30 former DDS agents and 12 of Habré’s
former senior officials. See Amnesty International (n 2 above) 6.
20 Art 1 CAT.
21 There were several DDS detention centres throughout N’djamena during the Habré
rule. The most-cited is the headquarters of the Brigade special d’intervention rapide (BSIR)
and the piscine, a swimming pool converted into a prison. Some prisoners that Hissène
Habré wanted to have close at hand were detained within the presidential palace.
22 Report of the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading
treatment or punishment, Manfred Nowak, UN Doc E/CN 4/2006/6 (23 December
2005).