Senegal constitutional change paves way for Habré trial

11 April 2008


The High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour warmly welcomes the latest change to Senegal's constitution, which now makes it possible for its courts to try former Chadian president Hissène Habré who is accused of gross human rights violations. In the High Commissioner's view this is a very positive development in the struggle to strengthen accountability and an important step forward in the never-ending fight against impunity. It is rare for one state to take measures to enable the prosecution of a former head of state of another country -- and Senegal should be commended for its leadership in this regard.

Hissène Habré ruled Chad from 1982 to 1990, when he was overthrown and went into exile in Senegal, where he has lived ever since. During his time as president, thousands of Chadians were allegedly tortured, and unlawful killings and other serious human rights violations took place. In February 2000, he was charged by a lower court in the Senegalese capital Dakar. However, an appeals court ruled that Senegalese courts did not have the legal competence to try such cases if they were perpetrated in another country.

In 2006, the African Union took the unprecedented step of urging Senegal to try the case "on behalf of Africa." Since then, the country has adopted a number of legal amendments to its Constitution to allow its legal system to deal with such a case. The latest of these amendments was adopted by the National Assembly on 8 April 2008.

Mme Arbour met with Senegal's Permanent Representative in March 2008 to take stock of the situation. She hopes that, with this latest amendment, the final obstacles preventing this case coming to court have now been cleared away. She has also urged the international community to continue its support to Senegal to ensure that Hissène Habré will finally go on trial in the near future.