Chad's former dictator to be tried in Senegal for atrocities
Hiss猫ne Habr茅 will become the first world leader to be prosecuted for crimes against humanity by another country's government. Could his trial set a precedent for future cases?
Hiss猫ne Habr茅 will become the first world leader to be prosecuted for crimes against humanity by another country's government. Could his trial set a precedent for future cases?
鈥� A version of this post ran on the author's blog,聽Sahel Blog.聽The views expressed are the author's own.
Hiss猫ne Habr茅, a French-educated political scientist, rebel commander, and politician, took power in a coup in 1982 and ruled Chad until rebel forces led by Idriss D茅by overthrew him in 1990. Habr茅 has been living in Senegal ever since. Pressure to put him on trial has come from numerous forces: groups within Chad, officials in Senegal and Belgium, the United Nations, the European Parliament, the African Union, and others.
For years, however, some observers felt that Senegalese authorities were stalling on the question of whether they would try Mr. Habr茅.聽Human Rights Watch has a chronology of the case聽here, an overview聽here, and a Q&A聽here.
Last week marked an important event in the case: the inauguration of special tribunal called the Extraordinary Chambers, in Dakar. There are a number of points to be made about this event. For one thing, as聽Voice of America聽reports, 鈥渢his will be the first time a world leader is prosecuted for crimes against humanity by the government of another country.鈥� The case will have major ramifications for future attempts to try former heads of state.
Second, there are questions to ponder about how Senegalese politics interacted with the trial. VOA quotes Reed Brody, a lawyer with Human Rights Watch, framing the shift in Senegalese authorities鈥� behavior on the case as a result of the change in administration from President Abdoulaye Wade 鈥� in office 2000-2012 鈥� to new President Macky Sall.
鈥淚n 10 months, Macky Sall and [Justice Minister] Aminata Toure and the government of Senegal have moved this case more than Abdoulaye Wade had done in 12 years.聽 Finally, the tenacity and the perseverance of the victims is being been rewarded by this government,鈥� [Brody] said.
What happens next? It鈥檚 hard to tell 鈥撀燗FP聽says that no details are publicly available about when the trial will start.聽RFI聽(French) gives a broad timeline: fifteen months (maximum) for investigations; seven months for the trial; and five months for appeals. That could mean that there is no final verdict until May 2015. In the meantime, this will be an important case to follow.
Alex Thurston聽is a PhD student studying Islam in聽Africa聽at聽Northwestern University.