Amnesty calls for Habre extradition

Amnesty International (AI) has urged the Senegalese authorities to follow up on President Abdoulaye Wade's announcement last month that he was in favour of extraditing former Chadian president Hissene Habre to stand trial for "gross human rights" abuses in a third country. AI also called for others responsible of rights violations under Habre's administration to be brought to justice. In a 33-page report, AI details testimonies of torture, killings and extrajudicial executions by a collective of Chadian victims who, in early 2000 charged Habre with rights abuses. Some of the victims "alleged the direct participation of Hissein Habre in acts of torture" AI said on Tuesday. The report cited a presidential security unit, the Directorate for Documentation and Security, as the unit in charge of carrying out these abuses during Habre's 1982-1990 presidency. Wade's announcement marked the latest development in the affair. A lower court decision that Habre could face trial in Senegal, where he has been exiled in 1990, was over-turned by the country's highest appeal court citing that Senegal had no jurisdiction to try Habre because his alleged crimes were committed outside Senegalese territory. However last month, Wade announced that he would extradite the Chadian ruler if a third country could provide him with a fair trial. AI's report called on the Senegalese authorities to prevent Habre from fleeing the country and to incorporate the Convention against Torture into its national legislation. It also called on Chad's current government "to collaborate with those seeking to bring Hissein Habre to justice, by allowing thorough and impartial investigations". To the international community, the London-based rights organisation urged it to "support and facilitate efforts to bring Hissein Habre and his collaborators to a court of law", to assist in reforming Chad's judicial system and to support the work of NGOs in the promotion and protection of human rights. "The government of Chad and Senegal, and the international community should respect their moral and legal obligations and act together to ensure that those responsible for gross human rights violations in Chad are brought to justice", AI said. [For full report, see http://www.web.amnesty.org/ai.nsf/recent/AFR200042001?OpenDocument]