‘Stakes exceedingly high’ in Habre case - human rights leader

Human rights groups are stepping up their fight for the extradition of Hissene Habre days before a Senegalese court is to rule on whether to honour a Belgian warrant to hand over the ex-Chadian leader. President Abdoulaye Wade, who will have the final say if the court rules in favour of extradition, has said he would consult leaders of the African Union on the affair. “It is an African problem,” Wade told reporters in Tunis this week. He said while he would hear his African counterparts’ recommendations, “this doesn’t necessarily mean I will follow them.” But as human rights groups and former Chad detainees stage an increasingly vocal campaign to call Habre to account, voices are mounting in Senegal against extraditing the ex-president, who has lived in exile in the country since 1990. Alioune Tine, head of the African Rally for the Defence of Human Rights (RADDHO), told reporters on Friday, “Of course Habre supporters are speaking up now…They have been quiet and discreet up to now but they are beginning to speak out because the threat of extradition is becoming very real.” Referring to the growing pressure against extradition, Tine said, “It will be an absolute diplomatic catastrophe for Senegal if Hissene Habre is not extradited.” A Chadian truth commission in 1992 accused Habre of at least 40,000 political killings and systematic torture during his rule from 1982 to 1990. Extradition an affront to Africa, some say Some former government officials and opposition politicians in the past several days have come out against the extradition, one calling Belgium’s warrant “a provocation,” others describing it as “neo-colonialist.” One group calling itself "youth for freedom" recently launched a petition and religious leaders have formed a committee to oppose the extradition. Some opponents of a handover say honouring the Belgian court’s warrant would be an affront to Africans. “If Chad or the African Union or any African country wants to judge the alleged crimes of Hissene Habre in the proper way, no one is opposed to that,” Malick Ndiaye, a sociologist who heads the Committee of Initiative of Senegalese Intellectuals, said in a communique. “But this provocation from Belgium is a manipulation that would lead the way to other moral, political and economic abuses against Africa.” Following Habre’s court appearance on Friday, one of his lawyers expressed confidence that the Belgian court will not have its way. “The atmosphere was calm and serious, but we are confident because we have the law on our side,” El Hadji Diouf told IRIN. “The Belgian request has no chance to succeed; it is without any legal foundation. We trust the Senegalese justice system, which is not going to bow to Belgium.” In 2000, a Senegalese court charged Habre with torture and crimes against humanity, but the following year the country’s highest court ruled that the ex-president could not be judged there for crimes allegedly perpetrated in another country. RADDHO’s Tine said on Friday Africans must demand that their leaders genuinely respect human rights. “It is time African leaders stop treating international conventions they have signed like simple scraps of paper,” Tine said. “Today we must say ‘Stop!’ to impunity on the continent.” ‘I am ashamed' Following a moment of silence for Habre victims at the RADDHO press conference, a number of Senegalese spoke out in favour of extradition. “I am ashamed at the thought that Senegal would not extradite Hissene Habre,” said Abdourahmane Gueye, who spent nearly seven months in a Chadian prison. He said he was arrested during a business trip to Chad with his friend and partner, Demba Gaye, who later died in detention. Between RADDHO leader Tine and Gaye’s sister, Sata Gaye, was an empty white chair bearing a sign, ‘Demba Gaye - Missing.’ “I just want light to be shed on all of this,” Sata Gaye said. Gueye told reporters, “If we do not send Hissene Habre to Belgium I don’t know what will become of Senegal.”