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Ex-Chad dictator Habre attempting to block Senegal trial

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] Lawyers for former Chadian dictator Hissene Habre filed a complaint with the court of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in October to prevent his trial for crimes against humanity in Senegal from moving forward, according to an AFP report. The move is a response to 14 Chadian and Senegalese citizens filing complaints with a Senegal prosecutor in September alleging war crimes and torture by the former dictator. Habre, who has been accused of involvement in the murder or torture of more than 40,000 political opponents during his rule from 1982 to 1990, fled to Senegal after being overthrown in 1990. Senegal is expected to respond to Habre's petition in order to keep the trial moving as expected. In August, a Chadian court sentenced Habre to death in absentia for crimes committed against the state. Senegal courts have long refused to extradite Habre, despite the issuance of an international arrest warrant by Belgium pursuant to its universal jurisdiction laws. Under growing international pressure either to try Habre locally or extradite him to Belgium, Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade agreed in April 2006 to try him in Senegal and the Senegalese government later determined he would face charges in a criminal court, rather than in front of a special tribunal. Previously the Senegalese courts dismissed an action against him in 2001, claiming that they lacked jurisdiction over crimes committed elsewhere. In July this year Senegal formally adopted a constitutional amendment giving the nation's courts jurisdiction over Habre's trial.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on December 05, 2008 (boomark / email).