Belgian judge investigates Hissene Habre case

Belgian Judge Daniel Fransen arrived in Chad on Tuesday on a nine-day visit to pursue investigations into the case of human rights abuses, filed in a Belgian court by a group of Chadians against former president Hissene Habre.

Reed Brody, advocacy director of Human Rights Watch, told IRIN on Wednesday that Fransen would interview victims, witnesses, former members of Habre's special security force and other people to gather evidence. He will also visit alleged detention and massacre sites, and meet with judicial authorities, Brody said from New York.

Habre, who ruled Chad from 1982-1990, is accused of torture, killings, and other human rights abuses during his reign. The accusers and international human rights watchdogs say Habre was responsible for 40,000 executions and the torture of some 200,000 people.

Belgian law allows courts of that country competence over cases involving serious rights abuses, no matter where and by whom they were committed. Therefore, the plaintiffs filed their case in Brussels after they had failed to get Habre to stand trial in Senegal, where he has lived since fleeing N'djamena in 1990.

Victims of the Habre administration have described Fransen's visit as a positive development in the case. HRW also hailed the visit. "The judge has already taken a lot of testimony in Belgium about Habre's atrocities, now he is going to see for himself where and how it all happened," Brody said.