Chad dictator trial in Senegal has a chaotic start

Chad dictator trial in Senegal has a chaotic start
Hissene Habre dragged into special Senegalese court for war crimes trial then out again as he cries out: 'Down with imperialists!' and denounces process as a 'farce'.

Chaos erupted at the start of the historic trial of Hissene Habre, the former Chadian dictator, in Senegal, as he and his supporters turned the trial into a noisy session.

Mr Habre, 72, is accused of masterminding the torture and murder of tens of thousands of people and is the subject of the first universal jurisdiction trial of an African leader in what many on the continent hope will be an alternative to the Hague-based International Criminal Court.



He has denied any knowledge of the atrocities, which took place during his eight-year rule of Chad between 1982 and 1990, but human rights groups say he personally oversaw the actions of his feared secret police, called the Documentation and Security Directorate (DDS).

He and his lawyers had vowed to boycott the trial, heard by the newly-created Special African Chamber, but he was forced into the Dakar court on Monday morning by custody officers.

Clad in white robes that were wrapped around his head and mouth, he was surrounded in the dock by armed members of the security forces.

Moments later, he shouted out: "Down with imperialists! It is a farce by rotten Senegalese politicians! African traitors! Valet of America!" He was then removed.
Several supporters, mostly young, screamed slogans condemning the trial and scuffled with police as they too were forcibly removed.

"I am sad, I am ashamed. This is happening in a country like Senegal," one of Mr Habre's supporters said, describing the defendant as "a liberator of Chad".

When the judges entered, opening statements were heard from the prosecutor and a lawyer representing some of the victims’ families. The prosecutor said statements had been taken from more than 2,000 people about their treatment by Mr Habre’s security police, and the legal teams had visited mass grave sites in Chad.

Jacqueline Moudeina, the victims’ lawyer, reminded the judges of the significance of the case. "The world watches you, it watches us. This process touches humanity, a humanity that was not afforded to these victims," she said.

The trial, which was attended by around 1,000 participants, spectators and journalists, was punctuated by a series of adjournments as attempts were made to bring Mr Habre to the dock.

Eventually, he issued a statement which was read out to the court by the chief justice, which alleged he had been “kidnapped” for the proceedings.
"These chambers that I call an 'extraordinary administrative committee' are illegitimate and illegal,” the statement said. “Those who preside here are not judges but simple functionaries."

The court eventually adjourned for the day with the judges ruling the defendant be brought to court by force the next day.

Mahamat Issa Halikim, Chad’s justice minister, said the trial’s importance could not be overstated. "This trial is staged for our people, for our future, for the future of Africa. And it is being staged to reconcile us with ourselves," he said.