Trial of ex-Chad leader over killings set to begin

He was escorted from the courtroom by security men and refused to return.

Once dubbed “Africa’s Pinochet”, the 72-year-old has been in custody in Senegal since his arrest in June 2013 at the home he shared in an affluent Dakar suburb with his wife and children.

“Down with imperialism, down with neocolonialism”, the former president, dressed all in white, cried as he was removed from the bench minutes later.

Habre had said he did not recognise the court’s jurisdiction and vowed he and his lawyers would play no part in the trial.

The courthouse, packed with around 1,000 participants, spectators and local and worldwide media, heard a number of introductory speeches before it emerged The defendant was refusing to enter the dock. Judges also ordered that he be held pending trial.

Several supporters screamed slogans condemning the trial in the lobby of the Dakar courthouse and were thrown out by police.

An African Union-backed court in Senegal forced former Chadian President Hissene Habre to appear for the start of his trial on on charges of crimes against humanity on Monday, after he denied the legitimacy of the tribunal.

In December 1990 the doors were opened to the prison cells in N’Djamena.

The court prosecutor says 2,500 victims have registered as civil parties, and 100 will be called to testify during the trial that will last months.

In a report from the current government in Chad, Habre and his regime is accused of complicity in 40,000 deaths via torture such as beating, burning, whipping, and pulling out victims fingernails. “Even if he doesn’t speak, he must listen to what we have to say and see us with his own eyes”.

Delayed for years by Senegal, the trial will set a historic precedent as until now African leaders accused of atrocities have been tried in worldwide courts.

Habre’s trial caps a 15-year battle by victims and rights campaigners to bring the former strongman to justice in Senegal, where he fled after being toppled in a coup.

The AU had mandated Senegal to try Mr Habre in July 2006, but the country stalled the process for years under former president Abdoulaye Wade, who was defeated in 2012 elections.

“So there are a lot of historical aspects to this”, he said.

Zeid also welcomed the ongoing outreach efforts deployed by the special court in Chad ad fundamentally important in establishing a clear two-way communication between the special court in Senegal and the Chadian population, to ensure that the conduct of the trial breeds a real sense of ownership and justice within Chad itself.

Hissene Habre, once described as “Africa’s Pinochet”, to face trial in Senegal for crimes against humanity.

“It shows that you can actually achieve justice here in Africa”, said Human Rights Watch counsel Reed Brody who has been working on the case against Habre since 1999.

“He didn’t want to come, but he was taken by force”, said Mouth Bane, a former communications officer for Habre who is among his supporters in Senegal.