Chad: Support the extradition of former Chadian dictator Hissène Habré

The Interafrican Union for Human Rights (IUHR)
The Chadian Association of Victims of Political Repression and Crime
(AVCRP)
The Chadian Association for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights
(ATPDH)
The Chadian League for Human Rights (LTDH), and
The African Assembly for the Defense of Human Rights (RADDHO)
La Senegalese Coalition of Human Rights Defenders
La Ligue des Droits de la personne dans la region des Grands Lacs,
Association pour le Developpement Humain et Social en Mauritanie,
G.E.R.D.D.E.S.- BURKINA,
Hurinet – Uganda : Human Rights Network,
National Society for Human Rights –Namibia (NSHR)

With the support of :
Human Rights Watch, and
Agir Ensemble pour les Droits de l’Homme

Open letter to African human rights groups

Dear Friends,

We are asking for your urgent help in persuading the African Union to
recommend the extradition of the former Chadian dictator Hissène Habré
to Belgium, where he is now wanted to stand trial on charges of crimes
against humanity, war crimes and torture. The President of Senegal,
Abdoulaye Wade, has asked the Summit of the African Union (Khartoum,
23-24 January 2006) to recommend “the competent jurisdiction” for the
trial of Mr. Habré.

We have examined the different options for bringing Mr. Habré to
justice – including his trial in Senegal, in Chad, in another African
country, before an ad hoc African court and in Belgium. We have
concluded that, unless an African country with an independent judiciary
having competence over the acts, and which adheres to international
fair trial standards and could arrange to incorporate the results of
the four-year Belgian pre-trial investigation, were rapidly to seek
Hissène Habré’s extradition, his extradition to Belgium remains the
most concrete, realistic and timely option for ensuring that Mr. Habré
is able to respond to the charges against him with all guarantees of a
fair trial. See the Human Rights Watch study in this regard at
http://hrw.org/backgrounder/africa/chad1205/ . Creating an ad hoc
African tribunal to try Habré, as some have suggested, would entail
enormous political will, years of delay and costs of at least $100
million.

By giving the Habré case an African dimension, President Wade has also
given us the opportunity to make the debate over impunity a central
point of the upcoming summit. Your support in this regard will be
critical.

- We are hoping that you will agree to help us in our campaign by
having your NGO sign on to the open letter from African NGOs to African
Heads of State which you will find below. We would be grateful if you
could let us know by 13 January at [email protected] or [email protected]
whether you will be able to sign on.

Many thanks!

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To the Heads of State of the African Union

We, the undersigned African NGOs, urge that the African Union recommend
to Senegal that it extradite the former Chadian dictator Hissène Habré to
Belgium, where he is now wanted to stand trial on charges of crimes
against humanity, war crimes and torture. Senegal’s President Abdoulaye
Wade has put the issue before the upcoming summit of the African Union.

The extradition of Mr. Habré to Belgium -which is supported by the
government of Chad- would be a milestone in the fight to hold the
perpetrators of atrocities accountable for their crimes.

Mr. Habré stands accused of atrocities committed on a massive scale. A
Chadian Truth Commission estimated that Mr. Habré’s regime was
responsible for the deaths of some 40,000 Chadians and the systematic
practice of torture. Mr. Habré periodically targeted various ethnic
groups such as the Sara (1983-6), the Arabs, the Hadjerai (1987), and the
Zaghawa (1989-90), killing and arresting group members en masse. The
files of Mr. Habré’s political police, the Documentation and Security
Directorate (DDS), provide a meticulously detailed account of Mr. Habré’s
repression. A total of 12,321 victims of abuse are mentioned in the
documents, including 1,208 individuals who died in detention.

Some have argued against sending an African leader for trial in Europe.
We all would have preferred to see Hissène Habré tried in Africa. But
the fact is that Senegal refused to prosecute Mr. Habré in 2000 when it
had the opportunity to do so, Chad has never sought Mr. Habré’s
extradition (and could not guarantee him a fair trial), and no other
country has asked for Mr. Habré’s extradition. Creation of a new African
tribunal to try Mr. Habré’s alleged crimes is too distant, too contingent
and too costly.

Unless an African country with an independent judiciary having competence
over the acts, that adheres to international fair trial standards and
could arrange to incorporate the results of the four-year Belgian
pre-trial investigation, were rapidly to seek Hissène Habré’s
extradition, Mr. Habré’s extradition to Belgium remains the most
concrete, realistic and timely option for ensuring that he is able to
respond to the charges against him with all guarantees of a fair trial.

Hissène Habré’s victims have already been waiting for 15 years to find
a court to hear their case, and many of the survivors have already
died.

We urge the African Union to choose justice, not impunity, and to
recommend Hissène Habré’s extradition to Belgium.