(Dakar) – late victims chad Seven years after his historic conviction in Senegal in 2016, President Hissene Habré has yet to receive court-ordered reparations, seven Chadian and international organizations said today. Two more aggrieved leaders passed away just a few days before the anniversary.
Habré was convicted by an African Union (AU)-backed Senegalese court in Dakar on May 30, 2016. crimes against humanity, war crimes, and atrocities, including sexual violence and rape, and sentenced him to life imprisonment. habre dead In jail in August 2021. In a separate trial in Chad, on March 25, 2015, a court 20 Habré-era security agents convicted On charges of murder and torture. Both courts ordered millions of dollars in victim compensation. The organizations said that the AU and Chad government should fulfill their obligations towards the victims under these court orders.
“Habe’s victims are heroes who fought tirelessly for 25 years to bring him and his accomplices to justice, and have been awarded millions of dollars, but have not seen a cent in restitution,” said Jacqueline Moudina, Prominent advocate for victims. “Two of the most active victims have died recently and many others are in poor health and in dire need.”
On May 15, 2023, ginet ngarbayeWho was it tortured and raped and gave birth in a secret Habré prison, he died after a long illness. She was the secretary of the Association of Victims of the Crimes of Hisense Habré (AVCRHH) and a leading WitnessIn Habré’s trial. On the same day, Fatim Kagon Tachangdum, whose husband had been killed by Habré’s security forces in 1983 and who had become an AVCRHH activist, also died. According to victims’ groups, nearly 400 direct and indirect victims have passed away since the 2016 verdict.
habe’s test remains only one in the world in which the courts of one country convicted the former ruler of another war crimes And crimes against humanity, It is widely regarded, as The New York Times wrote, “A milestone for justice in Africa, Au welcomed The decision is “significant as it reinforces the African Union’s principle of African solutions to African problems.”
when an appellate court in Dakar Habré’s conviction was confirmed in April 2017.and awarded 82 billion CFA francs (about US$130 million) to 7,396 named victims, essentially a AU Trust Fund To raise funds by searching for Habré properties and soliciting contributions. Although the AU has allocated US$5 million for the trust fund, six years after the appeals court’s order, the fund is yet to start functioning.
In September 2021, following the death of Habré while serving a life sentence, and renewed international interest in the plight of the victims, the AU sent a delegation to Chad, who It has been told as “a turning point in the process of reparations for victims”, and announced that it was “working to make the fund operational within the shortest possible time.” will take about another year until the second AU delegation Arrived in August 2022 to “establish the Fund’s provisional secretariat … to establish an action plan and determine the modalities of the reparations process”. But it left Chad without doing so.
Chad’s presidency on September 19, 2022 wrote Announcing that the government has allocated 10 billion CFA francs ($16.5 million) to the trust fund. According to AU, however, that money has not been received. May 2, 2023 Transitional President of Chad, Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno, told the delegation Victims group that they asked the Finance Minister to make Chad’s contribution available to the victims.
In the Chadian trial of Habré’s operatives, the court also awarded 75 billion CFA francs (US$119 million) in restitution to the 7,000 victims, ordering the government to pay half and the convicted agents to pay half. It ordered the government to build a monument “in no more than a year” to honor those killed under Habré and to build a museum at the former political police headquarters where detainees were tortured. The government has not complied with any of these orders.
The president of AVCRHH, Adoumbaye Dam Pierre, a former prisoner under Habré, said, “The African Union and the Chadian government need to come together and implement these court decisions so that the victims are repaid for what has happened for a long time.” compensation may be obtained.” We fought for those decisions for decades and now we have to fight again to get those decisions implemented.
Habré’s one-party rule, from 1982 to 1990, was marked by widespread atrocities, including the targeting of certain ethnic groups and the perpetrating of crimes serious sexual and gender-based violence, Organizations seeking compensation from the AU and the government of Chad include Amnesty International, the Association of Victims of the Crimes of Hissene Habré (AVCRHH), the Chadian Association for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (ATPDH), Human Rights Watch . , The International Commission of Jurists, Ridres, and the Rose Locusim Association.