- Title: Habre, disgraced former president of Chad, buried in Senegal
- Date: 26th August 2021
- Summary: DAKAR, SENEGAL (AUGUST 26, 2021) (REUTERS) COFFIN CONTAINING BODY OF FORMER CHADIAN PRESIDENT HISSENE HABRE PLACED ON CONCRETE DRAPED IN BLACK AND GOLD CLOTH PEOPLE STANDING AROUND COFFIN / MAN PRAYING IN FRONT OF IT MAN LEADING PRAYER IN FRONT OF COFFIN FUNERAL ATTENDEE ADJUSTING HIS FACE MASK (SOUNDBITE) (French) FUNERAL ATTENDEE AND INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS STUDENT, AMADOU DIALLO, SAYING: "I think it's really sad, sad that Africans kill their sons, their families, their children, their women. What Hissene Habre did in his country has been characterised as a crime against humanity, and it's really sad. That's why he came to exile in Senegal. He has been imprisoned for several years and judged on Senegalese territory by the African chamber of justice. It is a first and it is a pride for the African justice system to be able to judge its presidents here. We have seen Laurent Gbagbo, president of the Ivory Coast, and others have been judged outside the continent, and that is sad. To see that a president can be judged in Africa is already a big step for the future of African justice." PEOPLE FILING INTO DAKAR'S OMARI MOSQUE POLICE STANDING GUARD AS PEOPLE ENTER MOSQUE MAN TOUCHING HEAD TO THE GROUND WHILE PRAYING GROUP OF MEN RISING FROM PRAYER POSITION MAN TOUCHING HEAD TO THE GROUND WHILE PRAYING MAN HOLDING PRAYER BEADS MEN WEARING HEAD SCARVES STANDING IN MOSQUE PARKING LOT AMBULANCE CARRYING HABRE'S BODY DRIVING INTO PARKING LOT MEN FILING FROM MOSQUE INTO PARKING LOT MEN WAITING FOR HABRE'S COFFIN TO BE REMOVED FROM AMBULANCE MEN CARRYING HABRE'S COFFIN IN FRONT OF CROWD MEN IN HEADSCARVES WATCHING AS COFFIN IS CARRIED MEN LOWERING COFFIN ONTO THE CONCRETE (SOUNDBITE) (English) FUNERAL ATTENDEE AND PROFESSIONAL TRANSLATOR LAMIN SENE, SAYING: "I think this COVID situation is a fact in this country. We should be able to pay more attention to the situation. And when you look at people like that, people of his calibre, passing away of COVID, I think the situation is more serious than people think. And the government should take some steps. This is a a lesson and they should learn from it. They should make sure that this kind of situation never happens again. Because whatever happened, he had political asylum in this country and should have been protected in all ways, by all means." MEN CARRYING COFFIN THROUGH CROWD BACK TO AMBULANCE AMBULANCE DRIVER ENTERING VEHICLE AMBULANCE DRIVING OUT OF PARKING LOT
- Embargoed: 9th September 2021 22:52
- Keywords: africa deaths funerals human rights justice people presidents
- Location: DAKAR, SENEGAL
- City: DAKAR, SENEGAL
- Country: Senegal
- Topics: Africa,Society/Social Issues
- Reuters ID: LVA001ERX4SW7
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Former Chad President Hissene Habre, who died this week while serving a life sentence for war crimes, was buried on Thursday (August 26) in Senegal after a muted funeral in the car park of a half-built mosque littered with construction equipment.
Habre ruled Chad from 1982 to 1990, during which his political police tortured, killed and raped tens of thousands of suspected enemies, often on Habre's orders.
The former strongman initially received backing from France and the United States but that stopped as support at home drained away.
He was ousted in a coup and fled to Senegal, rich with money from his central African homeland. He bought a large house in a wealthy neighbourhood of the capital Dakar.
Habre was arrested in 2013 after a long campaign by victims and rights groups and was sentenced to life in prison in 2016.
He died on Tuesday at age 79 after contracting COVID-19.
About 200 people attended the funeral, many of them sporting the traditional robes and headscarves of Chad.
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