Rights groups hopeful after ousting of some remnants from Habre regime

Human rights groups are hoping the Chadian government’s recent dismissal of six officials suspected of political torture or killing during the regime of former president Hissene Habre will be a floodgate to righting some grave wrongs of the past. Activists from Human Rights Watch and Chadian rights groups -- who had been calling for the sacking, arrest and conviction of Habre-era officials for almost 15 years -- are describing last week’s dismissals as a small, first and long overdue step. Habre served as Chad’s president from 1982 to 1990, before he was ousted in a coup by the current president, Idriss Deby. In 1992 a truth commission accused Habre's regime of some 40,000 cases of political murder and torture. Human Rights Watch says there are at least 35 other officials from the former regime who still hold a wide range of posts - including in the military and security forces - under Deby and whom they would like to see brought to justice. A Chadian government official told IRIN that the six officials had been removed by internal decree, but he would not comment on why the decision was made at this time. However, the official did say that Deby had been discussing the subject recently in ministerial meetings and has said he intends to remove officials of the Habre era from the government. Deby's government stirred discontent in the country earlier this year by pushing through an amendment via referendum that allowed him to stand for a third presidential term in the 2006 elections. The government has also recently come under fire for harassing journalists. Human rights groups say they hope the government’s dismissal of a handful of Habre’s men signals a genuine willingness to go after those guilty of crimes and to give justice to victims. They are pushing for legislation to ensure reparations for victims of political arrest and torture. “More needs to be done,” Reed Brody of Human Rights Watch said by phone from New York. “These people need to be prosecuted and victims need to receive compensation from their government.” He noted that this was the first action by the Chadian government to implement the truth commission’s recommendations, made 13 years ago. Chadian rights activist Souleymane Guengueng, who spent five years in prison himself, also welcomed the six dismissals and spoke of his hope that the purge of Habre-era officials would continue, with them finally being brought before a judge. “This has only just begun,” he said. Guengueng says his only crime was supporting the opposition in Chad, and believes that the arrest and conviction of those who tortured and abused civilians during the Habre regime is critical to the country’s healing. Only when offenders acknowledge and are condemned for their crimes, will the victims be able to move forward, he said. “No one can pardon my torturer in my place. Not even the president. He did not feel what I felt.”