Arusha, March 25, 2015 (FH) \u2013 A court in Chad on Wednesday sentenced seven former members of Hiss\u00e8ne Habr\u00e9\u2019s security services to life in jail for murder and torture. Ex-president Habr\u00e9 is detained in Dakar, Senegal, where he is also awaiting trial.<\/p>\n
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Victims and human rights organizations hailed Wednesday\u2019s judgment as a victory for justice, 24 years after Habr\u00e9 fell from power.<\/p>\n
The court sentenced three of the 28 accused to 20 years in jail. It acquitted four people and gave the rest sentences ranging from seven to fifteen years.<\/p>\n
The seven people sentenced to life include Saleh Younous, former head of the Directorate of Documentation and Security Directorate (DDS), Habr\u00e9\u2019s political police, and Mahamat Djibrine, who has been described as one of the \u201cmost feared torturers in Chad\u201d.<\/p>\n
The two men were also wanted by the Extraordinary African Chambers (EAC) based in Dakar, but the Chadian authorities refused to transfer them there.<\/p>\n
Five of the accused were tried in absentia, two of who were sentenced to life.<\/p>\n
The judgment also provides that the 7,000 victims who were civil parties in the case obtain up to 75 billion CFA francs (about125 million dollars or 114 million euros) in reparations. Half this sum is to come from the sale of assets of the convicted persons, and the rest from the Chadian State which was declared civilly responsible.<\/p>\n
The special criminal court in N\u2019Djamena also ordered that the government erect a monument in memory of the victims of Habr\u00e9\u2019s regime, and that the former headquarters of the DDS be transformed into a museum.<\/p>\n
The trial opened on November 14, 2014. These former top officials were charged with murder, torture, kidnapping, arbitrary detention, and assault and battery.<\/p>\n
\u201cTwenty-four years after the end of the Habr\u00e9 dictatorship, and fourteen years after the survivors filed their complaints, today\u2019s convictions and the order of reparations are a stunning victory for Hiss\u00e8ne Habr\u00e9\u2019s victims,\u201d said Reed Brody, counsel for Human Rights Watch.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe sentencing of state officials for human rights crimes is not only a testament to the courage and tenacity of the victims, it is a remarkable development in a country where impunity for past atrocities has been the norm,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Victims also expressed satisfaction. \u201cAt long last, the men who tortured us and mocked us for decades have got what they deserve,\u201d said Cl\u00e9ment Abaifouta, president of the Association of Victims of Hiss\u00e8ne Habr\u00e9 Crimes (Association des victimes des crimes du r\u00e9gime de Hiss\u00e8ne Habr\u00e9 , AVCRHH). When he was in Habr\u00e9\u2019s jails, Abaifouta was forced to dig graves and bury co-prisoners.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe government must now implement this decision so that victims finally get reparation for their suffering and measures taken so that we are not forgotten,\u201d said Abaifouta.<\/p>\n
This trial ended in N\u2019Djamena as investigating magistrates in Dakar recently found there was enough evidence to commit Hiss\u00e8ne Habr\u00e9 to trial.<\/p>\n
The former Chadian president, who has been living in exile in Senegal since 1990, was arrested at his Dakar home on June 30, 2013 and charged two days later with crimes against humanity, war crimes and torture.<\/p>\n
ER\/JC<\/p>\n
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Arusha, March 25, 2015 (FH) \u2013 A court in Chad on Wednesday sentenced seven former members of Hiss\u00e8ne Habr\u00e9\u2019s security services to life in jail for murder and torture. Ex-president Habr\u00e9 is detained in Dakar, Senegal, where he is also awaiting trial.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[555],"tags":[],"ji_location":[],"class_list":["post-24979","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hirondellenews"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n