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

The trial of Hissène Habré in Senegal 189
The torture methods used were so barbaric that the National
Commission of Inquiry depicted the DDS as an ‘institution which
distinguished itself through its cruelty and its contempt for human life’.
Due to the secrecy in which the DDS carried out its activities and also the
fact that the majority of people who were tortured had not survived, the
exact number of people who were subjected to torture under the Habré rule
is unknown. Some of the few survivors alleged that Hissène Habré
personally had given the order for certain people to be tortured and was
even present during some torture sessions. 23
3 The trial of Hissène Habré in Senegal
Following the AU decision urging Senegal to try Hissene Habré ‘on behalf
of Africa’, Senegal adopted legislative measures which incorporated the
provisions of CAT into its domestic legal order. Senegal also prepared a
budget of 28 million Euro for the trial of Habré that it submitted to
international donors for assistance. The European Union as well as some
individual countries, including France and Switzerland, publicly
committed themselves to assisting Senegal.
3.1 Argument of non-retroactivity of criminal law
An attempt to stop the proceedings against Hissène Habré surfaced before
the African Court of Human and Peoples’ Rights (African Court). In
August 2008, the African Court received a communication against Senegal
filed by Michelot Yogogombaye, a national from Chad. 24 The
complainant contended in his communication among other things, that by
amending its constitution to authorise a retroactive application of its
criminal laws in order to prosecute Hissène Habré, Senegal had violated
the principle of non retroactivity of criminal law enshrined in article 7(2)
of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights. 25 Consequently, he
requested the African Court to order the end of proceedings against Habré
in Senegal. 26
However, the African Court did not examine the merit of the
complaint since it was obvious that it lacked jurisdiction to entertain it. 27
23 Amnesty International (n 2 above) 26; see also Benetech Violations de droits de l’homme
par l’Etat Tchadien sous le regime de Hissène Habré (2010), for more details in the personal
involvement of Habré in the human rights violations committed under his rule.
24 Communication 001/2008.
25 African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights Michelot Yogogombaye v The Republic of
Senegal, Communication 001/2008 Judgment para 21.
26 As above, para 23.
27
Art 34(6) Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the
Establishment of an African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights provides that at the
time of ratification of the Protocol or any time thereafter, the state shall make a