SENEGAL-JUSTICE/HABRE UPDATE Habre trial opening raises victims’ hopes for justice

Record ID: 146680

  • Title: SENEGAL-JUSTICE/HABRE UPDATE Habre trial opening raises victims’ hopes for justice
  • Date: 20th July 2015
  • Summary: DAKAR, SENEGAL (JULY 20, 2015) (REUTERS) ****WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** EX-CHADIAN PRESIDENT, HISSENE HABRE, ESCORTED FROM COURTROOM BY SECURITY FORCES AUDIENCE IN COURTROOM JUDGES TALKING CHADIAN VICTIMS LISTENING COORDINATOR OF VICTIMS' LAWYERS COLLECTIVE, JACQUELINE MOUDEINA, ADDRESSING JUDGES WOMAN LISTENING (SOUNDBITE) (French) COORDINATOR OF VICTIMS' LAWY
  • Embargoed: 4th August 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Senegal
  • Country: Senegal
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVABDNN7Q1U9EK2EZQCPDV92GU9S
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Security forces rushed former Chadian president Hissene Habre, dressed all in white, from the courtroom Monday (July 20) amid an outburst from his supporters before the trial began.
    The African-Union-backed court in Senegal had forced Habre to appear for the trial opening after he denied the legitimacy of the tribunal.
    Four thousand of Habre's alleged victims are participating as a civil party represented by lead attorney and Chadian rights activist, Jacqueline Moudeina.
    "The expectations are immense. The expectations are immense and at the end of the day, we want a verdict that is just and fair to all parties. We also hope that from this, these victims who suffered all these atrocities during Hissene Habre's eight-year reign will get their dignity back," Moudeina said.
    Habre is accused of being responsible for the torture and killing of thousands of people during his 1982-1990 rule. The trial's opening concludes a 15-year battle by victims and rights campaigners to bring Habre to justice in Senegal, where he fled after being toppled in a coup.
    "I have spent years seeking justice and to be proud to be Senegalese. Because I have fought for years as a Senegalese victim. Because we were two men, the other died in detention. Therefore we need justice to know why we were arrested in Chad as Senegalese citizens who didn't even live there," former detainee Abdourhamane Gueye said.
    The trial marks the first time that a court in one country anywhere in the world has prosecuted the former ruler of another on rights charges, according to Human Rights Watch, which has played a leading role in supporting the victims' case.
    President of Association of Victims of Crimes of Hissene Habre, Souleymane Guengueng, is among 100 alleged victims expected to testify.
    "[O]ur only concern is for this trial to be well-covered so that Chadians, and all Africans, and why not the entire world, see what we suffered in our country and so that serves educationally for both for people and leaders to avoid it from happening again," Guengueng said.
    The proceedings are due to last around 3 months. Senegal and the African Union created the ad-hoc tribunal, the Special African Chamber (CAE), in 2013. Habre faces charges of war crimes, torture and crimes against humanity.
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