African Rights Groups Back Habre Court

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