An African court has rejected Hissène Habré’s appeal against his conviction for crimes against humanity, which followed a decades-long fight for justice for his victims.

The former president of Chad was acquitted of a rape charge, but all the other charges against him – including torture and murder – were upheld.

Last year, Habré was sentenced to life in prison in Dakar, Senegal, for ordering the wrongful arrest, torture and killing of Chadian citizens throughout his tenure as president in the 1980s.

He was made to listen in court as 90 witnesses testified that he had thrown thousands of people into secret jails, where they had been tortured, executed or forced to endure horrific prison conditions.

Chad dictator Hissène Habré appeals against war crimes conviction Read more

“I have been fighting for this day since I walked out of prison more than 26 years ago. Today, I finally feel free,” said Souleymane Guengueng, who almost died in one of Habré’s jails and swore he would fight for justice if he ever got out. He did, and spent years collecting files full of victims’ testimonies.

Some of the trial’s most powerful testimony came from Khadidja Zidane, who accused Habré of raping her four times and whom his website described as a “crazy whore”.

In an interview with the Guardian last year, Zidane said she would never be satisfied while Habré lived in a comfortable prison cell, but added: “At least I was able to face him. If I die today, I’ll die in peace. I had the opportunity to tell the whole world what he did to me. Thank Allah for that. He’ll pay in the afterlife for what he did.”

Although Ougadeye Wafi, the Malian judge who read out the verdict, said the court believed Zidane’s account and found her a credible witness, he said he could not uphold the rape conviction as it was not on the original indictment. However, it makes no difference to the sentence.

Habré will continue to serve his life sentence in jail in Senegal, the country in which he took refuge after being ousted in a coup in 1990. It took 10 years for him to be arrested by Senegalese authorities and another 13 for the country, along with the African Union, to create the Extraordinary African Chambers, a court specially made to try Habré.

He was absent for the appeal, which was conducted for him by lawyers who had no contact with their client. Habré was ordered to pay more than £100m to his victims in reparations, and the court said a trust fund set up by the African Union should search for his assets to this end.

'I told my story face to face with Habré': courageous rape survivors make history | Ruth Maclean Read more

When the verdict was read out last May, scenes of high tension were followed by jubilation among his victims, along with the lawyers and human rights activists who had fought for justice for 26 years.

This time, the joy was more muted: quiet singing echoed around the chamber at Dakar’s Palais de Justice, but there were no shouts of triumph, no tears, no defiant Habré shaking his fist.

“Today will go down in history as the day that a band of unrelenting survivors finally prevailed over their dictator,” said the human rights defender Reed Brody, whose painstaking work, alongside the lawyer Jacqueline Moudeina and victims led by Guengueng, was central to the case.

Some have expressed worry that Habré could be given a pardon by the Senegalese president, Macky Sall, or his successor. However, Moudeina thought this unlikely.

“I don’t believe that Senegal will undo all its wonderful work on this case by freeing Habré,” she said. “A pardon would not only violate Senegal’s treaty with the African Union and its obligations under the UN torture convention, it would be a slap in the face to the victims after all they have been through.”</s>A special court in Senegal on Thursday upheld former Chadian dictator Hissène Habré's life sentence for war crimes, crimes against humanity and torture, but acquitted him of rape.

The court also ruled Thursday that a trust fund be set up to manage reparations awarded to the more than 4,000 victims. Habré has been ordered to pay millions of dollars in compensation.

The trial against Habré began in July 2015 and was the first in which courts of one country prosecuted the former ruler of another for alleged human rights crimes.

Habré's conviction also was the first of a former head of state by an African court for crimes against humanity.

The Extraordinary African Chambers was created by the African Union and Senegal to try Habré for crimes committed during his presidency from 1982-1990. Its ruling against the former Chadian ruler was seen as a blow to the impunity long enjoyed by repressive rulers on the continent.

Habré's conviction brought closure for relatives of up to 40,000 people killed and many more kidnapped, raped or tortured during his time as president.

His trial marked the first time a country had prosecuted the former leader of another nation for rights abuses, and was seen as a landmark example of African rights abuses being tried on the continent.</s>DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — An appeals court in Senegal has upheld the life sentence of former Chad dictator Hissene Habre on war crimes charges.

The court also ruled Thursday that a trust fund be set up to manage reparations awarded to the more than 4,000 victims. Habre has been ordered to pay millions of dollars in compensation.

The trial against Habre began in July 2015 and was the first in which courts of one country prosecuted the former ruler of another for alleged human rights crimes.

Habre’s conviction also was the first of a former head of state by an African court for crimes against humanity.

The Extraordinary African Chambers was created by the African Union and Senegal to try Habre for crimes committed during his presidency from 1982-1990.</s>DAKAR, Senegal (AP) - An appeals court in Senegal has upheld the life sentence of former Chad dictator Hissene Habre on war crimes charges.

The court also ruled Thursday that a trust fund be set up to manage reparations awarded to the more than 4,000 victims. Habre has been ordered to pay millions of dollars in compensation.

The trial against Habre began in July 2015 and was the first in which courts of one country prosecuted the former ruler of another for alleged human rights crimes.

FILE - In this Monday May 30, 2016 file photo, Chad's former dictator Hissene Habre raises his hand during court proceedings in Dakar, Senegal. An appeals court in Senegal has upheld the life sentence for former Chad dictator Hissene Habre on war crimes charges. The court also ruled Thursday April 27, 2017 on an appeal by the more than 4,000 victims that a trust fund be set up to manage reparations awarded to them. Habre has been ordered to pay millions of dollars in compensation. (AP Photo/Carley Petesch, File)

Habre's conviction also was the first of a former head of state by an African court for crimes against humanity.

The Extraordinary African Chambers was created by the African Union and Senegal to try Habre for crimes committed during his presidency from 1982-1990.</s>On May 30, 2016, the Extraordinary African Chambers convicted Habre of crimes against humanity, war crimes and torture, including rape and sexual violence, and sentenced him to a life prison.

Habre was Chad's president from 1982 until his ouster in 1990. Former Chad's leader fled to Senegal after he was overthrown and was arrested in 2013.

Never miss a story again — sign up to our Telegram channel and we'll keep you up to speed!</s>DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — An appeals court in Senegal upheld the life sentence of former Chad dictator Hissene Habre on war crimes and crimes against humanity charges, bringing to an end a landmark trial pursued by victims for more than 16 years.

The court also ruled Thursday that millions of dollars of compensation awarded to more than 4,000 victims would be managed by a trust fund.

Head appeal Judge Ougadeye Wafi said the fund will manage more than 82 billion CFA ($135 million) owed to victims who have been seeking justice since they were released from prison in 1990 when Habre fled Chad. The compensation for victims should come from the seizure of Habre’s assets and it is not clear how quickly that will happen.

The 74-year-old Habre’s conviction was the first of a former head of state by an African court for crimes against humanity. The trial itself was also the first in which courts of one country prosecuted the former ruler of another for alleged human rights crimes.

The court dropped the rape conviction against Habre because the charge was introduced during the trial, said Wafi, though he said they believed the accounts of a witness who said she was personally raped by Habre.

“I have been fighting for this day since I walked out of prison more than 26 years ago. Today I am finally at peace. I hope that all the dictators in Africa take notice — no one is above the law!” said Souleymane Guengueng, who began collecting accounts of survivors not long after being freed from prison in 1990, and founded the Association of Victims of Crimes of the Regime of Hissene Habre.

Clement Abaifouta, now the president of the association and a former prisoner who was forced to bury dead inmates, said this was the beginning of something new.

“Today is a great and a famous day for all victims. I am dreaming of now building a new society without the violence, a new society with democracy and with respect for human beings,” he said.

Victims and survivors have been pursuing the case against their former leader for more than 16 years and some have been collecting stories for more than 26 years in hopes this day would come. Over 90 witnesses testified in the trial that began in July 2015.

Prosecutors presented evidence, including files of Habre’s own political police, documents in his own handwriting and testimonies from those who received his orders.

The Extraordinary African Chambers, created by the African Union and Senegal to try Habre, found him guilty and sentenced him to life imprisonment in May for crimes committed during his presidency from 1982-1990. The court later ordered him to pay tens of millions of dollars in compensation to victims.

Habre had lived a life of luxury in Senegal’s capital of Dakar after fleeing Chad in 1990 until he was charged in 2013. Habre dismissed the trial as politically motivated and his defense lawyers refused to appear during the trial. He was escorted out of the trial on the first day of witness testimony for shouting.

Court-appointed lawyers, however, represented him and appealed the conviction, alleging that one of the trial court judges should not have been appointed given his background as a prosecutor, and that there were several errors of fact and law.

“A lot of deception,” said one of Habre’s court-appointed lawyers Mounir Ballal after the appeals court verdict. “The only satisfaction … was the question of the incrimination of rape,” which was dropped.

Lawyers for his alleged victims also appealed, calling for the reparations to be managed by a trust fund. The African Union set up a trust fund during the trial, and will now manage gathering funds with international partners and finding Habre’s assets.

A 1992 Chadian Truth Commission accused Habre’s government of systematic torture, saying 40,000 people died during his rule.

Habre was first indicted by a Senegalese judge in 2000, but legal twists and turns over a decade saw the case go to Belgium and then finally back to Senegal after unwavering pursuit by the survivors. The International Criminal Court, based in The Hague, cannot prosecute crimes committed before it was established in 2002.

“Habre’s final conviction after 26 years is a crowning victory for his Chadian victims, without whose tenacity his trial never would have taken place,” said international rights lawyer Reed Brody, a member of the International Commission of Jurists who has worked with Habre’s victims since 1999.

Associated Press writer Babacar Dione in Dakar, Senegal contributed to this report.

Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.</s>File: Former Chad president Hissene Habre has been sentenced to life imprisonment for war crimes, crimes against humanity and torture.

JOHANNESBURG – Former Chad dictator Hissene Habre, who seized power in 1982, embarking on an eight-year campaign of brutal atrocities, has been sentenced to life behind bars after judges in Dakar, Senegal, on Thursday upheld an earlier conviction by the Extraordinary African Chambers.

The earlier conviction by the Chambers, a legal body created by Senegal and the African Union, in May 2016 set a global precedent as for the first time a country had prosecuted a former leader of another nation for rights abuses, AFP reported.

Habre, 74, was convicted of war crimes, crimes against humanity and torture.

The Extraordinary African Chambers had also ordered him last July to pay compensation to each victim who suffered rape, arbitrary detention and imprisonment during his rule, as well as to their relatives, a decision also upheld on Thursday.

Forty thousand people were killed during his reign, which was accompanied by the persecution of dissenters incorporating torture and the execution of opponents, similar to Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet.

He made headlines in 1974 when he kidnapped a French ethnologist who was held for three years before France agreed to terms for her release.

Habre fled to Senegal after he was ousted by current Chadian President Idriss Deby in 1990.</s>A special court in Dakar on Thursday upheld a life sentence against Chad’s former president Hissene Habre for war crimes, crimes against humanity and torture, but acquitted him of rape.

The Extraordinary African Chambers, a body created by Senegal and the African Union (AU), sentenced Habre last May to life behind bars, an unprecedented ruling seen as a blow to the impunity long enjoyed by repressive rulers on the continent.

The president of Thursday’s appeal court Wafi Ougadeye said he confirmed the life sentence but quashed the rape ruling. The decision is final.

Habre, a former desert warrior, refused to recognise the court’s authority, so the appeal was mounted on his behalf in January by his court-appointed lawyers. He was absent from proceedings.

“No proof of his guilt has been demonstrated,” said Mbaye Sene, one of his court lawyers, though Reed Brody, a US-based expert who has worked closely with Habre’s victims to secure the conviction, has described his crimes as among the best-documented in African history.

The court further upheld the right of victims to seek compensation for abuses committed during his 1982-1990 rule, as well as to their relatives, and set the fund for reparations at 82 billion francs CFA (125 million euros; $136 million).

Delphine Djiraibe, representing the civil plaintiffs, said 7,396 victims stood to benefit, but experts warned that Habre’s assets remained unaccounted for.

“The African Union must ensure that the mandated Trust Fund implements the reparation order of the court effectively and fairly,” said Amnesty International’s Erica Bussey.

“Efforts should also be made to trace, freeze and seize Habre’s assets for reparation,” she added.

– ‘Finally at peace’ –

 The final stage in Habre’s conviction has brought closure for relatives of up to 40,000 people killed and many more kidnapped, raped or tortured during his time as president.

Brody, the US lawyer, said the ruling was “a powerful message that the days when tyrants could brutalise their people, pillage their treasury and escape abroad to a life of luxury are coming to an end.”

“Today will go down in history as the day that a band of unrelenting survivors finally prevailed over their dictator,” he added in a statement.

Habre remains in custody and will serve his sentence in Senegal or in another AU country.

He fled to Senegal after his 1990 ouster by Chad’s current President Idriss Deby, and for more than 20 years lived freely in an upmarket Dakar suburb with his wife and children.

The trial set a global precedent as the first time a country had prosecuted the former leader of another nation for rights abuses, and was seen as a landmark example of African rights abuses being tried on the continent.

Souleymane Guengueng, who founded a Habre victims’ association after suffering in one of the ex-leader’s notorious prisons, said in a statement he was “finally at peace”.

“I hope that all the dictators in Africa take notice – no one is above the law!” he said.

This post was syndicated from Breaking News, Nigeria News and World News – The Guardian Nigeria. Click here to read the full text on the original website.

Also, Like us on facebook</s>DAKAR, April 27 (Reuters) - A special tribunal upheld the life sentence for Chad's former President Hissene Habre for war crimes and crimes against humanity in the final decision of a landmark case, a judge presiding over the court in Senegal said on Thursday.

Habre, 74, an ally of the West during the Cold War, was sentenced last year to life in prison for rape and ordering the killing and torture of thousands of political opponents during his eight-year rule.

His lawyers had appealed the decision, saying the sentence was too severe. The appeal court's final verdict marks the end of a 17-year battle by victims and rights groups to bring the former leader to justice.

About a dozen victims present in courtroom in Dakar jumped up and cried, "We won!" when judge Wafi Ougadeye announced the verdict.

"Our patience has paid off. Never again will a dictator... be permitted to do horrible things and escape justice," said Clement Abaifouta, one of the Chadian victims.

The trial was conducted by the Extraordinary African Chambers (EAC), a tribunal created in 2013 by Senegal and the African Union for human rights crimes committed during Habre's rule. Habre fled to Senegal after being ousted in a 1990 coup.

The EAC appeals chamber on Thursday acquitted Habre of rape but affirmed his conviction for war crimes, crimes against humanity and torture.

Habre's lawyer Francois Serres said the trial was politically motivated.

"Africa cannot be proud of this trial. It was unfair from beginning to end," he said.

So far, the court has only tried Habre and the case marks a milestone for African justice. It is the first time in modern history that one country's domestic courts have prosecuted the former leader of another country on rights charges.

"Today will go down in history as the day that a band of unrelenting survivors finally prevailed over their dictator," said Reed Brody, an American lawyer who has worked with Habre's victims since 1999. (Reporting by Diadie Ba; Writing by Nellie Peyton; Editing by Richard Lough and Pritha Sarkar)</s>Dakar. A special court in Dakar on Thursday upheld a life sentence on appeal for Chad’s former president Hissene Habre for war crimes and crimes against humanity, but acquitted him of rape.

The Extraordinary African Chambers, a body created by Senegal and the African Union (AU), sentenced Habre last May to life behind bars, an unprecedented ruling seen as a blow to the impunity long enjoyed by repressive rulers on the continent. The president of the appeal court Wafi Ougadeye said he confirmed the life sentence -- an irrevocable verdict -- but quashed the rape ruling.

The former desert warrior has refused to recognise the court’s authority, so the appeal was mounted on his behalf by his court-appointed lawyers. Habre was absent from proceedings on Thursday.

In July, the court further ruled that Habre should give up to 30,000 euros to each victim of abuses committed during his 1982-1990 rule, as well as to their relatives, a decision on which the court will also rule on Thursday.

Habre’s conviction brought closure for relatives of up to 40,000 people killed and many more kidnapped, raped or tortured during his time as president.

Reed Brody, a US-based lawyer who has worked closely with Habre’s victims to secure the conviction, said the ruling was “a powerful message that the days when tyrants could brutalise their people, pillage their treasury and escape abroad to a life of luxury are coming to an end.”

“Today will go down in history as the day that a band of unrelenting survivors finally prevailed over their dictator,” he added in a statement.

Habre, who is already in custody, will serve his sentence in Senegal or in another AU country.

The trial set a global precedent as the first time a country had prosecuted the former leader of another nation for rights abuses, and was seen as a landmark example of African rights abuses being tried on the continent.

Souleymane Guengueng, who founded a Habre victims’ association after suffering in one of the ex-leader’s notorious prisons, said in a statement he was “finally at peace”.

“I hope that all the dictators in Africa take notice - no one is above the law!” he said. Habre fled to Senegal after his 1990 ouster by Chad’s current President Idriss Deby, and for more than 20 years lived freely in an upmarket Dakar suburb with his wife and children. (AFP)
The Extraordinary African Chambers tribunal in Dakar, Senegal, upholds its conviction of former Chadian president Hissène Habré for crimes against humanity, but acquits him of rape.