Hissène Habré
Hissène Habré | |
---|---|
حسين حبري | |
Prime Minister of Chad | |
In office 29 August 1978 – 23 March 1979 | |
Preceded by | François Tombalbaye (of French Chad) |
Succeeded by | Djidingar Dono Ngardoum |
Personal details | |
Born | Muslim | 13 August 1942
Military service | |
Allegiance | Chad |
Branch/service | Chadian Armed Forces |
Years of service | 1972–1990 |
Battles/wars |
|
Criminal details | |
Conviction(s) | Crimes against humanity See list
|
Criminal penalty | Life imprisonment |
Details | |
Victims | >40,000 alleged Chadian dissidents |
Span of crimes | 1982–1990 |
Date apprehended | 15 November 2005 |
Imprisoned at | Prison du Cap Manuel |
Hissène Habré (
A Muslim from northern Chad, Habré joined
Having become the country's new president, Habré created a
In May 2016, Habré was found guilty by an international tribunal in Senegal of human-rights abuses, including rape, sexual slavery, and ordering the killing of 40,000 people, and sentenced to life in prison.[4] He was the first former head of state to be convicted for human rights abuses in the court of another nation.[5] He died on 24 August 2021, after testing positive for COVID-19.[6][7]
Early life
Habré was born in 1942 in
Habré first came to international attention when a group under his command attacked the town of
Rise to power
In August 1978 Habré was given the posts of
Rule
Habré seized power in Chad and ruled from 1982 until he was deposed in 1990 by Idriss Déby. Habré's one-party régime, like many others before his, was characterized by widespread human rights abuses and atrocities. He denied killing and torturing tens of thousands of his opponents, although in 2012 the United Nations' International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordered Senegal to put him on trial or extradite him to face justice overseas.[15]
Following his rise to power Habré created a
Habré fled, with $11 million of public money, to Senegal after being overthrown in 1990.[5] He was placed under house arrest in 2005 until his arrest in 2013. He was accused of war crimes and torture during his eight years in power in Chad, where rights groups say that some 40,000 people were killed under his rule.[18] Human Rights Watch claims that 1,200 were killed and 12,000 were tortured, and a domestic Chadian commission of inquiry claims that as many as 40,000 were killed and that more than 200,000 were subjected to torture. Human Rights Watch later dubbed Habré "Africa's Pinochet."[19][20][21]
War with Libya
Libya invaded Chad in July 1980, occupying and annexing the
In 1980, the unity government signed a treaty of friendship and cooperation with Libya. The treaty allowed the Chadian government to call on Libya for assistance if Chad's independence or internal security was threatened.
Despite this victory, Habré's government was weak, and strongly opposed by members of the Zaghawa ethnic group. A rebel offensive in November 1990, which was led by Idriss Déby, a Zaghawa former army commander who had participated in a plot against Habré in 1989 and subsequently fled to Sudan, defeated Habré's forces. The French chose not to assist Habré on this occasion, allowing him to be ousted; it is possible that they actively aided Déby. Explanation and speculation regarding the reasons for France's abandonment of Habré include the adoption of a policy of non-interference in intra-Chadian conflicts, dissatisfaction with Habré's unwillingness to move towards multiparty democracy, and favoritism by Habré towards U.S. rather than French companies with regard to oil development. Habré fled to Cameroon, and the rebels entered N'Djamena on 2 December 1990; Habré subsequently went into exile in Senegal.[22]
Support of the U.S. and France
In the 1980s, the United States was pivotal in bringing Hissène Habré to power, seeing him as a stalwart defense against expansion by Libya's Muammar Qaddafi, and therefore provided critical military support to his insurgency and then to his government, even as it committed widespread and systematic human rights violations—violations of which, as this report shows, many in the US government were aware.
The United States and France supported Habré, seeing him as a bulwark against the Gaddafi government in neighboring
"The CIA was so deeply involved in bringing Habré to power I can't conceive they didn't know what was going on," said Donald Norland, U.S. ambassador to Chad from 1979 to 1981. "But there was no debate on the policy and virtually no discussion of the wisdom of doing what we did."[3]
Documents obtained by Human Rights Watch show that the United States provided Habré's DDS with training, intelligence, arms, and other support despite knowledge of its atrocities. Records discovered in the DDS' meticulous archives describe training programs by U.S. instructors for DDS agents and officials, including a course in the United States that was attended by some of the DDS' most feared torturers. According to the Chadian Truth Commission, the United States also provided the DDS with monthly infusions of monetary aid and financed a regional network of intelligence networks code-named "Mosaic" that Chad used to pursue suspected opponents of Habré's regime even after they fled the country.[25]
In the summer of 1983, when Libya invaded northern Chad and threatened to topple Habré, France sent paratroops with air support, while the Reagan administration provided two AWACS electronic surveillance planes to coordinate air cover. By 1987 Gaddafi's forces had retreated.[9]: 199–200 [14]: 355–356
"Habré was a remarkably able man with a brilliant sense of how to play the outside world," a former senior U.S. official said. "He was also a bloodthirsty tyrant and torturer. It is fair to say we knew who and what he was and chose to turn a blind eye."[3]
Legal proceedings
Allegations of crimes against humanity
Human rights groups hold Habré responsible for the killing of thousands of people, but the exact number is unknown.
The government of Idriss Déby established a Commission of Inquiry into the Crimes and Misappropriations Committed by Ex-President Habré, His Accomplices and/or Accessories in 1990, which reported that 40,000 people had been killed, but did not follow up on its recommendations.[32][33]
Initial trial attempts
Between 1993 and 2003, Belgium had universal jurisdiction legislation (the Belgian War Crimes Law) allowing the most serious violations of human rights to be tried in national as well as international courts, without any direct connection to the country of the alleged perpetrator, the victims or where the crimes took place.[26] Despite the repeal of the legislation, investigations against Habré went ahead and in September 2005 he was indicted for crimes against humanity, torture, war crimes, and other human rights violations.[26] Senegal, where Habré had been in exile for 17 years,[34] had Habré under nominal house arrest in Dakar.[35]
On 17 March 2006, the
A 2007 movie by director Klaartje Quirijns, The Dictator Hunter, tells the story of the activists Souleymane Guengueng and Reed Brody who led the efforts to bring Habré to trial.[40]
Trial in Chad
On 15 August 2008, a Chadian court sentenced Habré to death in absentia[41][42] for war crimes and crimes against humanity[41] in connection with allegations that he had worked with rebels inside Chad to oust Déby.[42] François Serres, a lawyer for Habré, criticized this trial on 22 August for unfairness and secrecy.[43] According to Serres, the accusation on which the trial was based was previously unknown and Habré had not received any notification of the trial.[41] 14 victims filed new complaints with a Senegalese prosecutor on 16 September, accusing Habré of crimes against humanity and torture.[44]
Trial in Senegal
The Senegalese government added an amendment in 2008, which would allow Habré to be tried in court. Senegal later changed their position, however, requesting 27 million euros in funding from the international community before going through with the trial. This prompted Belgium to pressure the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to force Senegal to either extradite Habré to Belgium or to proceed with the trial.[26] The ICJ declined to force extradition, finding that prosecution is an international obligation the violation of which is a wrongful act engaging the responsibility of the State, while extradition is an option offered to the State. Senegal was found to have failed international obligations by 1.) failing to make immediately a preliminary inquiry into the fact relating to the alleged crimes; and 2.) failing to submit the case to its competent authorities for prosecution (obligations according to UN Convention on Torture and Other Cruel, inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (1984) that Senegal had bound itself to).[45] The ICJ rejected Senegal Defenses of insufficient funds and opposition by domestic law, instead unanimously ordering Senegal to submit the case to authorities for prosecution or extradite him without delay.[46]
In November 2010, the court of justice of the
Senegal changed their position again however, walking out during discussions on establishing the court on 30 May 2011 without explanation.[26] The African union commission on Habré, in preparation for their next summit on 30 June, published a report which urged pressing Senegal to extradite Habré to Belgium.[48]
On 8 July 2011, Senegal officials announced that Habré would be extradited to Chad on 11 July,[49] but this was subsequently halted.[50] In July 2012, the ICJ ruled that Senegal must start Habré's trial "without delay".[26] Amnesty International called on Senegal to abide by the ICJ's ruling, calling it "a victory for victims that's long overdue".[51] A trial by the International Criminal Court (ICC) was ruled out, because the crimes took place before the ICC was fully established in 2002, and its jurisdiction is limited to events that took place after that date.[52]
In December 2012, the
On 30 June 2013, Habré was arrested in Senegal by the Senegalese police.[53] Chadian President Idriss Déby said of his arrest that it was a step towards "an Africa free of all evil, an Africa stripped of all dictatorships." Senegal's court, set up with the African Union, charged him with crimes against humanity and torture.[54] That year he was also sentenced to death in absentia for crimes against humanity by a Chadian court.[55] The Tribunal that judged Hissène Habré in Sénégal is said to have a huge range of specificities.[26][clarification needed]
On 20 July 2015 the trial started. Waiting for the trial to open, Habré shouted: "Down with imperialists. [The trial] is a farce by rotten Senegalese politicians. African traitors. Valet of America". After that Habré was taken out of the courtroom and the trial began without him.[56][57] On 21 July 2015 Habré's trial was postponed to 7 September 2015, after his lawyers refused to participate in court.[58][59][60][61]
Conviction by the Special Tribunal in Senegal
On 30 May 2016, the Extraordinary African Chambers found Habré guilty of rape, sexual slavery, and ordering the killing of 40,000 people during his tenure as Chadian president and sentenced him to life in prison in the Prison du Cap Manuel in Senegal.[62] The verdict marked the first time an African Union-backed court convicted a former ruler for human-rights abuses and the first time that the courts of one country have prosecuted the former ruler of another country for crimes against humanity.[29][63][64][28] In May 2017, Judge Ougadeye Wafi upheld Habre's life sentence and all convictions against him, except rape. The court emphasized this was a procedural matter, as the facts the victim offered during her testimony came too late in the proceedings to be included within charges of mass sexual violence committed by his security agents, the convictions for which were upheld.[65] On 7 April 2020, a judge in Senegal granted Habre two months' leave from prison, as the jail is being used to hold new detainees in COVID-19 quarantine.[66] After finishing his home freedom he returned to prison on 7 June.[67][68][69]
Death
Habré died in Senegal on 24 August 2021, a week after his 79th birthday, after being hospitalized in Dakar's main hospital with COVID-19.[70][71] He had fallen ill while in jail a week earlier.[72] In a statement, Habré's wife, Fatimé Raymonne Habré, confirmed that he had COVID-19.[73] He is buried in Yoff Muslim cemetery.[74]
See also
References
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The trial has been suspended until 7 September after Mr Habre and his lawyers refused to speak to the judge.
- ^ Diadie Ba (21 July 2015). "Trial of Chad's Habre suspended after boycott by his lawyers". Reuters. Retrieved 24 July 2015.
- ^ Thierry Cruvellier (27 July 2015). "For Hissène Habré, a Trial by Refusal". The New York Times. Retrieved 28 July 2015.
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- ^ "Chad.- El expresidente de Chad Hissne Habré vuelve a prisión en Senegal tras el permiso por la COVID-19". www.notimerica.com. Europa Press. 8 June 2020.
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- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
- France24. 24 August 2021. Retrieved 24 August 2021.
- ^ "Chad's former President Hissene Habre dies of COVID aged 79". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 24 August 2021.
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External links
- Belgium v. Senegal Hissene Habre Case of 19 February 2009 Archived 4 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine
- The Case against Hissène Habré, an "African Pinochet" Archived 24 November 2010 at the Wayback Machine, Human Rights Watch.
- "From U.S. Ally to Convicted War Criminal: Inside Chad's Hissène Habré's Close Ties to Reagan Admin". Democracy Now! 31 May 2016.