Ex-President Hissene Habre's immunity waived

Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Friday hailed the waiver of ex-President Hissene Habre's immunity by the Chadian government, saying it would pave way for his prosecution in Belgium. It also opens the way for his indictment and extradition from Senegal where he lives in exile, HRW said in a news release. "This waiver is a clear green light for Habre's prosecution," Reed Brody of HRW, which helped the Chadian victims file the case against Habre said. "We are one step closer to the day when Habre will have to answer in a court of law for his terrible crimes." In a letter to the Belgian judge investigating the charges against Habre, Chad's Justice Minister Djimnain Koudj-Gaou wrote: "Hissene Habre cannot claim to enjoy any form of immunity from the Chadian authorities". The document dated 7 October, 2002, was given to HRW on Friday and the International Federation of Human Rights Leagues (FIDH), which immediately made it public. In February and March, the Belgian judge, Daniel Fransen, visited Chad with a police team to investigate the charges against Habre. The judge visited Habre-era prisons and mass grave sites and interviewed victims as well as many of Habre’s collaborators, HRW said. The investigation has since been put on hold, however, as Belgian courts, restricted the scope of the anti-atrocity to cases in which the accused is already indicted in Belgium. The Belgian parliament is now considering two laws to overturn those decisions and restore the law’s longer reach, it added. Meanwhile Chadian activists hailed the waiver, HRW said. "For the first time, the Chadian government has committed itself to bring about justice and fighting impunity," it quoted Dobian Assingar, president of the Chadian League for Human Rights and vice-president of the FIDH, as saying. "We welcome this stand, but we will remain vigilant to see how this plays out." Habre, labeled an "African Pinochet", was indicted in Senegal two years ago on charges of torture and crimes against humanity before the Senegalese courts ruled that he could not be tried there. Chadian victims then filed charges against him in Belgium. The president of Senegal, Abdoulaye Wade, has said that he would extradite Habre to Belgium if a request were made, HRW said. More information on the cases against Hissene Habre