African Rights Groups Back Habre Court
Publisher | Human Rights Watch |
Publication Date | 2 November 2014 |
Cite as | Human Rights Watch, African Rights Groups Back Habre Court, 2 November 2014, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5460ad0f4.html [accessed 5 June 2023] |
Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
141 African human rights groups from 32 countries today issued an open letter expressing support for the efforts by Senegal and the African Union to prosecute crimes committed during the rule of former Chadian president Hisséne Habré.
Habré, who is accused of thousands of political killings and systematic torture from 1982 to 1990, was indicted in July 2013 by the Extraordinary African Chambers created by Senegal and the African Union, and is now in pretrial detention. If the judges decide that a trial is warranted, the case is scheduled to begin in early 2015.
"A fair and transparent trial for Mr. Habré, should the evidence support the case going forward, would be a milestone in the fight to hold accountable the perpetrators of atrocities," the letter says.
"While some African leaders have claimed that Africa is unfairly targeted by international courts, a challenge has been to put teeth into African justice," said George Kegoro, executive director of the International Commission of Jurists-Kenya, one of the letter's signatories. "This case could help to do that."
Victims of crimes committed during Habré's rule have campaigned for 25 years to bring him to court. But it was only in 2012 that the International Court of Justice enjoined Senegal to begin proceedings against Habré "without further delay" if it did not extradite him, and the new Senegalese government of Macky Sall promised to organize a trial.
"Hisséne Habré's victims have been tenacious in their struggle to bring him to justice," said Yasmin Sooka, director of the Foundation for Human Rights in South Africa. "It is crucial for the trial and prosecutorial process to be exemplary, as it would send an important signal that it is possible to hold perpetrators to account in Africa and that victims of serious violations in Africa also matter." Sooka was a member of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) and later of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in Sierra Leone.
The open letter also calls on the government of Chad to provide fair and transparent trials for officials from Habré's administration who are facing charges there, including two who are also being sought by the chambers' prosecutor. Those trials are scheduled to begin on November 13th.
The signatories of the letter include the leading human rights organizations in Chad and Senegal.
Open letter on the case of Hisséne Habré and the Extraordinary African Chambers
We support an Africa fighting against impunity!
We, African NGOs, write to support the efforts by Senegal and the African Union to prosecute the worst international crimes committed during the government of former Chadian president Hisséne Habré and to urge the government of Chad and all African governments fully to cooperate with those efforts.
Habré's government is alleged to have committed thousands of political killings and systematic torture before Habré was overthrown and fled to Senegal in 1990. The survivors, widows and orphans have been tenaciously seeking justice for decades, but the previous government of Senegal threw up one obstacle after another. In 2012, however, following a ruling by the International Court of Justice enjoining Senegal to bring Habré to justice "without further delay," the new government of Macky Sall promised to do so. The victims' perseverance was finally rewarded when Senegal and the African Union established the "Extraordinary African Chambers in the courts of Senegal" to prosecute the "person or persons" most responsible for international crimes committed in Chad between 1982 and 1990. In July 2013, the Chambers charged Habré with crimes against humanity, torture and war crimes.
Since then, this innovative court has carried out four investigative missions in Chad and interviewed more than 2500 victims and witnesses. If the judges decide it is warranted, Mr. Habré's trial is scheduled to begin in May 2015.
The Chambers' chief prosecutor has also requested the indictment of five further officials from Mr. Habré's administration suspected of being responsible for international crimes. Two of them have been in detention in Chad since 2013 on charges stemming from complaints filed in 2000 by Habré-era victims in the Chadian courts. In October 2014, the Chadian government announced that the two men would be prosecuted in Chad, where a court in October 2014 held them over for trial, along with 27 other security officials. It is essential that the Chadian trials of members of Mr. Habré's administration, for which the victims have campaigned so long, meet international standards of transparency and not be a simple pretext for the non-transfer of the accused persons to Dakar.
A fair and transparent trial for Mr. Habré before the Extraordinary African Chambers, should the evidence support the case going forward, would be a milestone in the fight to hold accountable the perpetrators of atrocities. Senegal would be the first country in the world whose courts tried the leader of another country for alleged grave crimes under international law. It would also show that African courts are capable of to providing justice for African victims for crimes committed in Africa.
We are pleased to support an Africa which fights against impunity.
List of signatories:
Angola
Associação OMUNGA
Benin
Association pour la Protection de l'Enfance Malheureuse
Burkina Faso
Mouvement Burkinabè des Droits de l'Homme et des Peuples (MBDHP)
Cadre africain de Coopération Civilo- Militaire (CCCM)
Coalition Nationale pour la Responsabilité de Protéger (CNRdeP)
Burundi
Action des Chrétiens pour l'Abolition de la Torture section Burundi
Association Communautaire pour la Promotion et la Protection des Droits de l'Homme (ACPDH)
Cameroon
Association Camerounaise pour la Défense des Droits de l'Homme des Libertés et du Bien Etre (ACADEHLIB)
Chad
Association Tchadienne pour la Promotion et Défense des Droits de l'Homme (ATPDH)
Appel à la Paix et à la Réconciliation (CSAPR)
Association des Victimes de Crimes du Régime de Hissène Habré (AVCRHH)
Public Interest Law Center
Droit de l'Homme sans frontière (DHSF)
Association pour les libertés fondamentales au Tchad (APFLT)
Association pour le soutien des enfants en détresse (ASED)
Union des syndicats de Tchad (UST)
Ligue tchadienne pour les droits de l'Homme (LTDH)
Association Tchadienne pour la non-violence (ATNV)
Association des Femmes juristes
Congo
Action des Chrétiens pour l'Abolition de la Torture section Congo
Association pour les Droits de L'Homme et l'Univers Carcéral (ADHUC)
Observatoire congolais des droits de l'Homme (OCDH)
Rencontre pour la Paix et les Droits de l'Homme (RPDH)
Réseau International pour la Bonne Gouvernance (RIBG)
Côte d'Ivoire
Coalition Ivoirienne pour la CPI
Réseau Equitas Côte d'Ivoire
Observatoire Ivoirien des Droits de l'Homme (OIDH)
Mouvement ivoirien des droits humains (MIDH)
Espoir des populations pauvres en milieu rural
Democratic Republic of Congo
Aprodivi
Action Contre l'Impunité pour les Droits Humains, ACIDH
Association des armateurs sur le Lac Kivu
Agence de Diffusion de Droit International Humanitaire en Afrique Centrale
Coalition des Volontaires pour la Paix et le Développement (CVPD)
Groupe Lufalanga pour la Justice et la Paix
Association Congolaise pour l'Accès à la Justice (ACAJ)
Promotion de la Démocratie et Protection des Droits Humains
Synergie des Femmes pour les victimes des violences sexuelles
Initiative Congolaise pour la justice et la paix
Culture pour la Paix et la Justice
Club des amis du droit du Congo
Synergie des ONG congolaises pour les Victimes
Dauphins Munzihirwa-Kataliko(DMK)
Justice Plus (JP Bunia)
Action pour la Protection des Droits Humains et de Développement Communautaire(APDHUD)
Centre Pour la Justice et la Réconciliation (C.J.R.)
Association Congolaise des Droits de l'Homme (ACDHO)
Nouvelle Société Civile (NSC)
Solidarité des Volontaires pour l'Humanité (SVH)
Association Africaine de défense des Droits de l'Homme (ASADHO)
La Ligue des Electeurs (L.E)
Groupe Justice et Libération
Human Rescue
Fondation Révérend Père Henri Matota pour le Développement et la Défense des Droits de l'Homme (FRPHMD)
Coordination Société Civile de Kinshasa
Coalition Congolaise pour la Justice Transitionnelle
Coalition Nationale pour la CPI de la RDC
Front de Lutte contre la Pauvreté en RDC
Réseau des Associations des Droits de l'Homme du Sud Kivu, RADHOSKI
Carrefour Juridique Culturel
Action des Chrétiens pour la Promotion de la Paix et du Développement dans les Pays des Grands Lacs en Afrique
Fondation Congolaise pour la Promotion des Droits humains et la Paix, FOCDP
Ligue pour la Promotion et le Développement Intégral de la Femme et de l'Enfant
Action Humanitaire Justice pour les Victimes
Collectif des ONG pour la Promotion de la Justice
Forum International des Femmes de l'Espace Francophone (FIFEF)
Association nationale pour l'évaluation environnementale
Comité des observateurs des droits de l'Homme en RD. du Congo (CODHO)
Laboratoire anti-corruption, Anti-antivaleurs et Antifraude
Comité Anti-corruption (CLAC)/Katanga
Egypt
Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS)
Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI)
Equatorial Guinea
EG Justice
Eritrea
Human Rights Concern
Gambia
International Institute for Child Protection
Ghana
Black Unity Foundation
Media Foundation for West Africa
Kenya
International Centre for Policy and Conflict
Kenyans for Peace With Truth and Justice
Africa Centre for Open Governance
The Kenyan Section of the International Commission of Jurists
Liberia
Global Justice and Research Project
Madagascar
Action des Chrétiens pour l'Abolition de la Torture section Madagascar
Malawi
Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation (CHRR)
Mauritania
SOS Esclaves
Morocco
Association Marocaine des Droits Humains (AMDH)
Association Adala- Justice
Niger
Action des Chrétiens pour l'Abolition de la Torture section Niger
Compassion Solidarité Enfants du Niger
l'Union des Jeunes pour la Protection de la Démocratie et le Droit de l'Homme (UJPDDH)
Organisation Contre la Pauvreté (OCP)
Nigeria
Access to Justice
International Society for Civil Liberties & the Rule of Law
Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP)
Nigerian Coalition on the international Criminal Court
Alliances for Africa (AfA)
Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC)
Rwanda
Human Rights First Rwanda Association
Ligue des Droits de la Personne dans la Région des Grands Lacs
Senegal
Action des Chrétiens pour l'Abolition de la Torture section Sénégal
Amnesty International section Sénégal
Ligue Sénégalaise des Droits Humains
L'Organisation nationale des droites de l'homme (ONDH)
Rencontre Africaine pour la Défense des Droits de l'Homme (RADDHO)
Trust Africa
Section sénégalaise de la Société Internationale pour la Défense des Droits de l'Homme (SIDH)
WARIPNET
Groupe Agora Pour L'Education Aux Droits De L'Enfant Et A La Paix
Article 19 - Afrique de l'Ouest
Sierra Leone
Center for Accountability and Rule of Law
Sudan
Darfur Bar Association
Noon Center for Legal Consultations & Human Rights
South Africa
Southern Africa Litigation Centre (SALC)
Anti-Corruption Trust of Southern Africa (ACT)
The Foundation for Human Rights in South Africa
South Sudan
Citizens for Peace and Justice (CPJ)
South Sudan Law Society (SSLS)
South Sudanese Network for Democracy and Elections
Standard Action Liaison Focus
Tanzania
Asylum Access, Tanzania
Dogodogo Centre
Tanzania Child Rights Forum (TCRF)
Togo
Nouveaux Droits de l'Homme
Mouvement d'Action pour le Renouveau Social (MARS)
Solidarité et Action pour le Développement Durable (SADD)
Association des Jeunes Engagés pour l'Action Humanitaire (AJEAH)
Alliance Internationale pour les Droits Fondamentaux de l'Homme (AIDFH)
Association pour le Bien-Etre Juvénile
Association Togolaise des Droits de l'Homme (ATDH)
Association des Praticiens de l'Education au Développement, aux Droits Humains et à la Solidarité
Observatoire Togolais des Droits de l'Homme (OTDH)
Uganda
Platform for Social Justice in Kampala
African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies
Soroti Development Association & NGOs Network Sodann
Zimbabwe
Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition
Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum
Counselling Services Unit
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights
Pan African
Coalition for an Effective African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights
Pan African Lawyers Union
Africa Legal Aid