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Senegal: Habr? trial an ?illusion?

Senegal’s withdrawal from talks to establish a court to try the former Chadian dictator Hiss?ne Habr? was the “last straw,” a coalition of his victims and human rights groups said today. In a major change of strategy, the groups said that they were fast losing all hope for a trial in Senegal, where Habr? has remained in exile for two decades, and would now press to have Habr? sent to Belgium. Belgium had requested his extradition in 2005 and again in 2011. “We would have liked to see Habr? tried in Africa,” said Jacqueline Moudeina, of the Chadian Association for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (ATPDH). “But after 11 years of delays and disappointments, this is the last straw. We have to face the facts, and the idea that Senegal would try Habr? was just an illusion.”

On May 30, 2011, a Senegalese delegation unexpectedly and without explanation withdrew from discussions in Dakar with the African Union (AU) on the rules for a special jurisdiction to try Habr?, who is accused of thousands of killings and systematic torture in Chad from 1982 to 1990. That jurisdiction was mandated by a ruling of the Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).?The delegation’s withdrawal follows more than a decade of stalling tactics by the government of President Abdoulaye Wade (see annex below).

In 2000, a senior Senegalese judge indicted Habr? but, after political interference by Wade, denounced by the United Nations, Senegalese courts said they had no jurisdiction to try the case. The victims turned to Belgium, and a Belgian judge, after a four-year investigation, indicted Habr? in 2005. But Senegal refused to extradite him. In 2006, Wade accepted an AU mandate to try Habr? “in the name of Africa” but then spent four years wrangling over a trial budget before a November 2010 donors’ meeting pledged US$ 11.7 million to provide the full trial costs. Since January, Senegal has rebuffed successive AU plans to establish the ECOWAS-mandated special jurisdiction.

Habr? ruled Chad from 1982 until 1990, when he was deposed by President Idriss D?by Itno and fled to Senegal. His one-party rule was marked by widespread atrocities, including waves of ethnic campaigns. Files of Habr?’s political police reveal the names of 1,208 people who were killed or died in detention. A total of 12,321 victims of human rights violations were mentioned in the files. A Chadian Truth Commission also found that Habr? had virtually emptied out the Chadian treasury before his flight to Senegal.

The groups – the Chadian Association for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (ATPDH), the Association of Victims of Hiss?ne Habr? (AVCRHH), the African Assembly for the Defense of Human Rights (RADDHO), the Senegalese League for Human Rights, Human Rights Watch, Agir Ensemble pour les droits de l’homme, and the International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH) – noted that Senegal had a legal obligation under the UN Convention against Torture to prosecute or extradite Habr?. In 2006, the UN Committee against Torture condemned Senegal for violating its obligation and called on Senegal to bring Habr? to justice.

In 2009, Belgium filed a lawsuit against Senegal at the International Court of Justice in The Hague to force Senegal either to prosecute Habr? itself or to extradite him to Belgium. A ruling in that case is not expected until 2012. “With this latest unexpected and shameful maneuver, President Wade has finally dropped his mask,” said Alioune Tine of the Dakar-based RADDHO. “Today, the last chance to obtain justice for the mass crimes of which Habr? is accused is his extradition to Belgium. That is the legacy of Abdoulaye Wade, who calls himself a ?pan-African.’”

Hiss?ne Habr? in Senegal: 21 Years of Impunity

December 1990 – President Hiss?ne Habr? of Chad is overthrown and arrives in Senegal.
?
January 26, 2000 – Seven Chadian victims file a criminal complaint against Habr? in Dakar.

February 3, 2000 – A Senegalese judge, Demba Kandji, indicts Habr? as an accomplice to torture, barbarous acts and crimes against humanity.
?
February 18, 2000 – Habr?’s lawyers ask the Dakar Appeals Court to dismiss the case.
?
June 30, 2000 – The Superior Council of the Magistracy, presided over by President Abdoulaye Wade, transfers Judge Kandji, removing him from the Habr? investigation, and gives the president of the Dakar Appeals Court a promotion.
?
July 4, 2000 – The Dakar Appeals Court rules that Senegalese courts cannot pursue the charges because the crimes were not committed in Senegal. The United Nations special rapporteurs on the independence of judges and lawyers and on torture criticize the decision and the circumstances under which it was issued. The victims appeal.
?
November 30, 2000 – Chadian victims living in Belgium file charges in Brussels against Habr?.?
?
March 20, 2001 – Senegal’s highest court rules that Habr? cannot stand trial because his alleged crimes were not committed in Senegal.

April 7, 2001 – President Wade asks Habr? to leave Senegal.?

April 23, 2001 – The United Nations Committee against Torture (CAT) calls on Senegal not to allow Habr? to leave the country.

September 27, 2001 – President Wade agrees to hold Habr? in Senegal pending an extradition request. “If a country that can organize a fair trial wants him – they speak of Belgium- I wouldn’t see any obstacle.”

September 19, 2005 – After a four-year investigation, including a mission to Chad, a Belgian judge issues an international arrest warrant for Habr? for crimes against humanity, war crimes and torture. Belgium requests his extradition from Senegal.
?
November 15, 2005 – Senegalese authorities arrest Habr?.

November 24, 2005 – The state prosecutor recommends that the Dakar Court of Appeals declare itself without jurisdiction to rule on the extradition request.
?
November 25, 2005 – The Dakar Court of Appeals rules that it has no jurisdiction to rule on the extradition request. Habr? is released.
?
November 27, 2005 – Senegal asks the African Union summit to indicate “the jurisdiction that is competent to try this matter.”
?
January 24, 2006 – The African Union establishes a “Committee of Eminent African Jurists” (CEAJ) to consider options for Habr?’s trial.”

May 18, 2006 – The UN Committee against Torture rules that Senegal has violated the UN Convention against Torture and calls on Senegal to prosecute or extradite Habr?.?
?
July 2, 2006 – The African Union, on the report of the CEAJ, asks Senegal to prosecute Habr? “on behalf of Africa.” President Wade agrees to the request.
?
?January 31, 2007 – The Senegalese National Assembly adopts a law that allows Senegalese courts to prosecute cases of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and torture, even when committed outside of Senegal. It later amends its constitution.
?
July 2007 – The Presidents of Switzerland and France are the first to promise assistance to Senegal for the conduct of the investigation and trial.
???????????
September 16, 2008 – Fourteen victims file complaints with a Senegalese prosecutor accusing Habr? of crimes against humanity and torture.

February 19, 2009 – Belgium asks the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to order Senegal to prosecute or extradite Habr?. On May 28, the ICJ accepts Senegal’s formal pledge not to allow Habr? to leave Senegal pending its final judgment.

2008 – 2010 – Senegal refuses to move forward until it receives full funding for the trial, and President Wade threatens to expel Habr? unless funding arrives. The European Union and the African Union send numerous delegations to negotiate with Senegal. Senegal first seeks ?66 million, then ?27 million, and finally agrees to an ?8.6 million budget.

February 19, 2009 – Belgium asks the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to order Senegal to prosecute or extradite Habr?. On May 28, the ICJ accepts Senegal’s formal pledge not to allow Habr? to leave Senegal pending its final judgment.

November 18, 2010 – The Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) rules that Senegal must try Habr? through a “special or ad hoc procedure of an international character.”

November 24, 2010 – A donors’ roundtable results in pledges of ?8.6 million, fully covering the estimated costs of all the proceedings. Senegal’s justice minister says the meeting was the “completion of the long process of preparation leading up to the actual start of trial.”

December 10, 2010 – President Wade declares that “The African Union must take its case back… I’ve had enough of it at this point… I am going to get rid of him, full stop.”

January 12, 2011 – The United Nations Committee against Torture responds to Wade’s statement by reminding Senegal of its “obligation” to prosecute or extradite Habr?.

January 13, 2011 – President Wade rejects an AU plan to try Habr? before a Cambodia-style court with Senegalese and African judges.

January 31, 2011 – The African Union calls for the “expeditious” start to Habr?’s trial based on the ECOWAS decision.

February 4, 2011 – President Wade says: “Now, the chairman of the African Union Commission [says] we have to create a new jurisdiction, based on I-don’t-know-what principle, to try Hiss?ne Habr?. I said stop. For me, it’s over. I am no longer seized of this case. I am giving him back to the African Union.”

March 24, 2011 – Senegal and the AU announce agreement on an “Ad hoc International Court” to try Habr? and agree to meet in April to finalize the Statute and Rules of the Court.

May 30, 2011 – Senegal walks out on the meeting.

Disclaimer: Opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer(s) and not do necessarily reflect the views of the AfricaFiles’ editors and network members. They are included in our material as a reflection of a diversity of views and a variety of issues. Material written specifically for AfricaFiles may be edited for length, clarity or inaccuracies.

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Senegal: The coming of age of an heir apparent

The picture of Karim Wade being introduced to US President Obama during the last G8 Summit in Deauville by Nicolas Sarkozy was at once a banal case of society events and a scandalous gesture of powerful symbolism that reeks of conspiracy, arrogance, neocolonialism and the sort of all too common western meddling which has produced illegitimate leaders across Africa, especially in former French colonies. This picture shocked the Senegalese public beyond words. The geopolitics behind it may have been nothing surprising given that President Wade, one of the closest and long-term allies of Gaddafi, has not only recognised the Transitional Council as the only legitimate Libyan authority, he has dealt a blow to the African Union?s consensus on mediation by visiting Benghazi, something that even Sarkozy has done. But as befuddling as Wade?s U-turn could be, it cannot justify the apparent indulgence of both France and America towards a senile president?s desire to fulfil his project to make his son president of Senegal.

Karim Wade is a 43 years old French-Senegalese, whose only professional experience seems to be some brief, obscure job at a banking institution in London. His only merit, it needs to be stressed, is to be the son of Abdoulaye Wade, democratically elected in 2000 and who put an end to the 20-year rule of Abdou Diouf. President Obama could be forgiven for not having been properly briefed about the putrefying abscess about to burst in Senegal.

That young man, beaming and basking in the glory of his introduction to the big boys club, is the face of the future of unrelenting looting, of economic debauchery, of hopeless perspectives for millions of Senegalese, that is being staged by an authoritarian imagination cast in old ways. After all, in France?s pre-carr? (backyard), dynastical succession is not only possible ?Togo’s Faure Gnassingb? and Gabon’s Ali Bongo are living examples of this ? it ensures the maintaining of the ?special relationship? between France and its former colonies, hence the perpetuation of a servile political elite, sweetheart deals and preferential treatment for French businesses, all for the glory of a country that is struggling to come to terms with the fact of post-colonisation.

France?s dream of grandeur, or rather its imperial pretention, predominantly rests on real and imaginary control over the political destiny of francophone Africa. It has long ceased to be a great power. Senegal?s young urban, postcolonial voters, see France just as it is: Nothing more than another declining European country crippled with economic recession, mass unemployment and a gaping deficit. France?s latest success in installing, through forceful military assistance, Alassane Ouattara in Ivory Coast may have convinced Paris that it still determines the course of francophone Africa, but Africans are hungry for real democracy and for social justice, they will no longer accept that their leaders be elected in Paris, or in this occasion in the muffled corridors of Deauville.

The rise of Karim to the highest level of decision-making in itself is patent case of abusive nepotism. Karim met with a bitter loss in his first attempt to test his popularity in Senegal during the 22 March local elections. As a consolation, Daddy Wade made him super-minister in May 2009, entrusting him with International Cooperation, Urban and Regional Development, Air Transport, and Infrastructure, in other words, half of the government. To this was added, in October 2010, the energy and biofuels portfolio, an area into which billions of CFA francs have since been pumped with no improvement, despite repeated riots of populations deprived of electricity, sometimes for over 10 hours in a day.

In his mismanaging of the electricity problem and others, Karim is only confirming what the Senegalese have known for a long time. That no matter how much money is invested to give him a helping hand, he will always disappoint. When Karim struggled to put together the Organisation of the Islamic Conference for years (2004-08), Papa dipped into the depths of the public coffer, borrowed here and there in order to save face. A few kilometres of road done up here and there, a tunnel and a couple of bridges were the justification for the biggest infrastructural investment ever made in this small country whose population does not live off pebbles, sawdust and rhetoric, but on broken low-quality imported rice the price of which is ever increasing, and of fish hard to come by these days of unregulated fishing licenses that allow European and Asian ships to scrape the Atlantic coast clean of the good fish. Needless to say, nobody is accountable for all these economic crimes.

The rise of Karim Wade is the sum of a decade of crippled democracy, of crimes, economic and political, that have gone unpunished, the latest one being the murder, on 30 May, of 32 year old Malick Ba, by a policeman, at a peaceful rally against a government?s decision to install a special delegation at a locality with a democratically elected council. Under President Wade, corruption has become so pervasive and reached such proportions that it has become an issue of national security. The Senegalese state has literally ceased to function as the national budget is gnawed away by a rapacious ruling class sundered from the reality of its own irrelevance. The state is merely hanging over a time-bomb, and nobody knows when it is going to explode.

The resolve of millions of Senegalese, crystallised by the arrogance of a ruling class, the wailing of thousands of women who lost sons and husbands to a voracious Atlantic ocean on their way to Europe in order to escape the oppressive grip of poverty, may not have reached the walls of the White House, but America could not ignore the Senegalese people?s burning desire for social justice and for a functioning democracy, by supporting another monarchical devolution that does not bode well for the future of democracy in Africa.?

{Amy Niang is a PhD candidate at the School of Social and Political Studies, University of Edinburgh.}

Readers’ Comments

Thanks for an insightful article. I think what happened in June 23 all over Senegal, the huge urban protests againt the law (to impose a US-style President-Running mate team for the next 2012 presidential elections, 8months before the vote) was extraordinary and reassuring: Nor France nor the US wil decide for us who our leaders will be. The young people sent a strong message to the Senegalese goverment, the opposition parties and the civil society that THEY will decide the future of their country and this to me is great news for Africa.This is not yet an African spring, but we’re heading there, slowly but surely. Vive la democratie! Marianne Fall

Disclaimer: Opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer(s) and not do necessarily reflect the views of the AfricaFiles’ editors and network members. They are included in our material as a reflection of a diversity of views and a variety of issues. Material written specifically for AfricaFiles may be edited for length, clarity or inaccuracies.

?????top of page

Senegal: Habr? trial an ?illusion?

Senegal’s withdrawal from talks to establish a court to try the former Chadian dictator Hiss?ne Habr? was the “last straw,” a coalition of his victims and human rights groups said today. In a major change of strategy, the groups said that they were fast losing all hope for a trial in Senegal, where Habr? has remained in exile for two decades, and would now press to have Habr? sent to Belgium. Belgium had requested his extradition in 2005 and again in 2011. “We would have liked to see Habr? tried in Africa,” said Jacqueline Moudeina, of the Chadian Association for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (ATPDH). “But after 11 years of delays and disappointments, this is the last straw. We have to face the facts, and the idea that Senegal would try Habr? was just an illusion.”

On May 30, 2011, a Senegalese delegation unexpectedly and without explanation withdrew from discussions in Dakar with the African Union (AU) on the rules for a special jurisdiction to try Habr?, who is accused of thousands of killings and systematic torture in Chad from 1982 to 1990. That jurisdiction was mandated by a ruling of the Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).?The delegation’s withdrawal follows more than a decade of stalling tactics by the government of President Abdoulaye Wade (see annex below).

In 2000, a senior Senegalese judge indicted Habr? but, after political interference by Wade, denounced by the United Nations, Senegalese courts said they had no jurisdiction to try the case. The victims turned to Belgium, and a Belgian judge, after a four-year investigation, indicted Habr? in 2005. But Senegal refused to extradite him. In 2006, Wade accepted an AU mandate to try Habr? “in the name of Africa” but then spent four years wrangling over a trial budget before a November 2010 donors’ meeting pledged US$ 11.7 million to provide the full trial costs. Since January, Senegal has rebuffed successive AU plans to establish the ECOWAS-mandated special jurisdiction.

Habr? ruled Chad from 1982 until 1990, when he was deposed by President Idriss D?by Itno and fled to Senegal. His one-party rule was marked by widespread atrocities, including waves of ethnic campaigns. Files of Habr?’s political police reveal the names of 1,208 people who were killed or died in detention. A total of 12,321 victims of human rights violations were mentioned in the files. A Chadian Truth Commission also found that Habr? had virtually emptied out the Chadian treasury before his flight to Senegal.

The groups – the Chadian Association for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (ATPDH), the Association of Victims of Hiss?ne Habr? (AVCRHH), the African Assembly for the Defense of Human Rights (RADDHO), the Senegalese League for Human Rights, Human Rights Watch, Agir Ensemble pour les droits de l’homme, and the International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH) – noted that Senegal had a legal obligation under the UN Convention against Torture to prosecute or extradite Habr?. In 2006, the UN Committee against Torture condemned Senegal for violating its obligation and called on Senegal to bring Habr? to justice.

In 2009, Belgium filed a lawsuit against Senegal at the International Court of Justice in The Hague to force Senegal either to prosecute Habr? itself or to extradite him to Belgium. A ruling in that case is not expected until 2012. “With this latest unexpected and shameful maneuver, President Wade has finally dropped his mask,” said Alioune Tine of the Dakar-based RADDHO. “Today, the last chance to obtain justice for the mass crimes of which Habr? is accused is his extradition to Belgium. That is the legacy of Abdoulaye Wade, who calls himself a ?pan-African.’”

Hiss?ne Habr? in Senegal: 21 Years of Impunity

December 1990 – President Hiss?ne Habr? of Chad is overthrown and arrives in Senegal.
?
January 26, 2000 – Seven Chadian victims file a criminal complaint against Habr? in Dakar.

February 3, 2000 – A Senegalese judge, Demba Kandji, indicts Habr? as an accomplice to torture, barbarous acts and crimes against humanity.
?
February 18, 2000 – Habr?’s lawyers ask the Dakar Appeals Court to dismiss the case.
?
June 30, 2000 – The Superior Council of the Magistracy, presided over by President Abdoulaye Wade, transfers Judge Kandji, removing him from the Habr? investigation, and gives the president of the Dakar Appeals Court a promotion.
?
July 4, 2000 – The Dakar Appeals Court rules that Senegalese courts cannot pursue the charges because the crimes were not committed in Senegal. The United Nations special rapporteurs on the independence of judges and lawyers and on torture criticize the decision and the circumstances under which it was issued. The victims appeal.
?
November 30, 2000 – Chadian victims living in Belgium file charges in Brussels against Habr?.?
?
March 20, 2001 – Senegal’s highest court rules that Habr? cannot stand trial because his alleged crimes were not committed in Senegal.

April 7, 2001 – President Wade asks Habr? to leave Senegal.?

April 23, 2001 – The United Nations Committee against Torture (CAT) calls on Senegal not to allow Habr? to leave the country.

September 27, 2001 – President Wade agrees to hold Habr? in Senegal pending an extradition request. “If a country that can organize a fair trial wants him – they speak of Belgium- I wouldn’t see any obstacle.”

September 19, 2005 – After a four-year investigation, including a mission to Chad, a Belgian judge issues an international arrest warrant for Habr? for crimes against humanity, war crimes and torture. Belgium requests his extradition from Senegal.
?
November 15, 2005 – Senegalese authorities arrest Habr?.

November 24, 2005 – The state prosecutor recommends that the Dakar Court of Appeals declare itself without jurisdiction to rule on the extradition request.
?
November 25, 2005 – The Dakar Court of Appeals rules that it has no jurisdiction to rule on the extradition request. Habr? is released.
?
November 27, 2005 – Senegal asks the African Union summit to indicate “the jurisdiction that is competent to try this matter.”
?
January 24, 2006 – The African Union establishes a “Committee of Eminent African Jurists” (CEAJ) to consider options for Habr?’s trial.”

May 18, 2006 – The UN Committee against Torture rules that Senegal has violated the UN Convention against Torture and calls on Senegal to prosecute or extradite Habr?.?
?
July 2, 2006 – The African Union, on the report of the CEAJ, asks Senegal to prosecute Habr? “on behalf of Africa.” President Wade agrees to the request.
?
?January 31, 2007 – The Senegalese National Assembly adopts a law that allows Senegalese courts to prosecute cases of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and torture, even when committed outside of Senegal. It later amends its constitution.
?
July 2007 – The Presidents of Switzerland and France are the first to promise assistance to Senegal for the conduct of the investigation and trial.
???????????
September 16, 2008 – Fourteen victims file complaints with a Senegalese prosecutor accusing Habr? of crimes against humanity and torture.

February 19, 2009 – Belgium asks the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to order Senegal to prosecute or extradite Habr?. On May 28, the ICJ accepts Senegal’s formal pledge not to allow Habr? to leave Senegal pending its final judgment.

2008 – 2010 – Senegal refuses to move forward until it receives full funding for the trial, and President Wade threatens to expel Habr? unless funding arrives. The European Union and the African Union send numerous delegations to negotiate with Senegal. Senegal first seeks ?66 million, then ?27 million, and finally agrees to an ?8.6 million budget.

February 19, 2009 – Belgium asks the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to order Senegal to prosecute or extradite Habr?. On May 28, the ICJ accepts Senegal’s formal pledge not to allow Habr? to leave Senegal pending its final judgment.

November 18, 2010 – The Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) rules that Senegal must try Habr? through a “special or ad hoc procedure of an international character.”

November 24, 2010 – A donors’ roundtable results in pledges of ?8.6 million, fully covering the estimated costs of all the proceedings. Senegal’s justice minister says the meeting was the “completion of the long process of preparation leading up to the actual start of trial.”

December 10, 2010 – President Wade declares that “The African Union must take its case back… I’ve had enough of it at this point… I am going to get rid of him, full stop.”

January 12, 2011 – The United Nations Committee against Torture responds to Wade’s statement by reminding Senegal of its “obligation” to prosecute or extradite Habr?.

January 13, 2011 – President Wade rejects an AU plan to try Habr? before a Cambodia-style court with Senegalese and African judges.

January 31, 2011 – The African Union calls for the “expeditious” start to Habr?’s trial based on the ECOWAS decision.

February 4, 2011 – President Wade says: “Now, the chairman of the African Union Commission [says] we have to create a new jurisdiction, based on I-don’t-know-what principle, to try Hiss?ne Habr?. I said stop. For me, it’s over. I am no longer seized of this case. I am giving him back to the African Union.”

March 24, 2011 – Senegal and the AU announce agreement on an “Ad hoc International Court” to try Habr? and agree to meet in April to finalize the Statute and Rules of the Court.

May 30, 2011 – Senegal walks out on the meeting.

Disclaimer: Opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer(s) and not do necessarily reflect the views of the AfricaFiles’ editors and network members. They are included in our material as a reflection of a diversity of views and a variety of issues. Material written specifically for AfricaFiles may be edited for length, clarity or inaccuracies.

?????top of page