News and Ideas (42)
On Monday, May 30, 2016, the Extraordinary African Chambers in charge of the trial of former Chadian President, Hissène Habré delivered its verdict after 4 months of hearings and over 3 months deliberations.
On behalf of the Court, Presiding Judge Gustave Kam Gberdao found the former strongman of Ndjamena guilty of crimes against humanity and torture. In the verdict, the Court also convicted Hissène Habré of acts of sexual violence and rape. These charges were absent from the initial indictment. However, they were brought to light by civil parties and their lawyers during the hearings.
Hissène Habré was sentenced to life imprisonment. Subsequently, the Court granted 15 days to the accused counsels to appeal the decision.
20th July, 2015, Dakar, Senegal: The trial of former Chadian President Hissène Habré, accused of crimes against humanity, war crimes, and torture, began before the Extraordinary African Chambers in Senegal. The alleged crimes were committed during Habré’s regime from 1982 to 1990, when an estimated 40,000 people are reported to have died or disappeared.
SRT grantee, TrustAfrica have enhanced independent coverage of the Habré trial through their International Criminal Justice (ICJ) Fund who worked closely with a consortium of civil society organizations and Senegalese law graduates. The ICJ Fund trained a group of law graduates from the Cheikh Anta Diop University (UCAD) in Dakar, to monitor, document and provide daily reports on the proceedings in both French and English across various platforms. The work of these students provides an invaluable resource to ensure there is an independent platform of informed actors who can provide accurate and timely analysis of the proceedings, and share this information in Africa and beyond.
TrustAfrica works with African and international partners to develop the capacity and networks of groups working on the documentation of atrocity crime. A key technical resource in this work is the Global Justice and Research Project, led by Liberian journalist Hassan Bility. More information available here.
