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Former Chadian leader under house arrest

    ABIDJAN

    Former Chadian leader Hissene Habre was placed under house arrest on Thursday in Dakar, Senegal, after a court charged him with perpetrating torture and other abuses during his eight-year rule.

    However, Investigating Judge Demba Kandji rejected charges of crimes against humanity filed against Habre by nine Chadians and a coalition of local and international human rights bodies.

    The Chadians said they represented hundreds of their compatriots who died during Habre's rule. They filed charges on 25 January, accusing him of 97 political killings, 142 cases of torture and 100 disappearances - the missionary news agency, Misna, reported.

    "He is a victim of political machinations with international
    ramifications," the state-owned `Le Soleil' daily on Friday reported Madicke Niang, Habre's lawyer, as saying. "In the next few days the entire world will be aware of these machinations."

    This is the first time a former African head of state has been indicted in another state for human rights crimes.

    Judge Kandji ordered Habre, who has been living in exile in Senegal since his overthrow by Idriss Deby in December 1990, to surrender his passport and other travel documents to the gendarmerie.

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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