(Dakar) \u2013 The last witness is scheduled to testify on December 15, 2015 in the landmark trial in Senegal of the former Chadian dictator Hiss\u00e8ne Habr\u00e9, Human Rights Watch said today. The lawyers\u2019 closing statements are expected to take place late January or early February 2016, with a verdict by the end of May 2016.<\/p>\n
Habr\u00e9, who ruled Chad from 1982 to 1990 before fleeing to Senegal, has stood trial since July 20 before the\u00a0Extraordinary African Chambers in the Senegalese\u00a0court system on charges of crimes against humanity, torture, and war crimes.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor the first time the courts of one country are prosecuting the former ruler of another for alleged human rights crimes,\u201d said\u00a0Reed Brody, counsel at Human Rights Watch, who has worked with Habre\u2019s victims since 1999.\u00a0\u201cAfter a 25-year quest for justice, the survivors got their day in court, and Habr\u00e9 had an opportunity to defend himself.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Extraordinary Chambers were inaugurated by Senegal and the African Union in February 2013 to prosecute the \u201cperson or persons\u201d most responsible for international crimes committed in Chad between 1982 and 1990. The Trial Chamber, which will have sat for 52 days,\u00a0is presided over by Gberdao Gustave Kam of Burkina Faso, who shares the bench with two senior Senegalese judges.<\/p>\n
Altogether, 98 witnesses will have testified, the majority travelling from Chad to Senegal. The victims and witnesses were chosen from the more than 2,500 interviewed by the pre-trial investigating judges on the basis of the relevance of their testimony to the crimes committed or their alleged link to Hiss\u00e8ne Habr\u00e9.<\/p>\n
Some of the most moving testimony came from the victims who described their experience in prisons and camps. Among the other witnesses were experts on that period in Chad, the president of the 1992 Chadian truth commission, former members of Habr\u00e9\u2019s political police, the DDS, the Belgian judge who carried out a four-year investigation into a complaint filed against Habr\u00e9 in Belgium, a French doctor who treated 581 torture victims, researchers from Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, and forensic, statistical and handwriting experts.<\/p>\n
The trial looked at various periods and issues in Chad under Habr\u00e9: attacks against the Hadjerai ethnic group (1987), the Zaghawas (1989), and southern populations including the so-called \u201cBlack September\u201d in 1984; the arrest of political prisoners, and the treatment of prisoners of war.<\/p>\n
Habr\u00e9 has rejected the tribunal\u2019s authority. After his lawyers failed to appear at the opening of the trial in July, the court appointed three Senegalese lawyers to defend him and adjourned for 45 days so they could prepare.\u00a0The first day back, on September 7, Habr\u00e9 was brought in to the court by force, kicking and screaming. After that, he was brought into the courtroom for each session before the doors to the public opened. The three court-appointed lawyers played an active role in questioning each witness and challenging the prosecution\u2019s case. Habr\u00e9 has remained silent, as is his right, even when the prosecutor tried to question him.<\/p>\n
Habr\u00e9\u2019s court-appointed lawyers have not directly challenged the accounts of criminal activity but have tried to show that Habr\u00e9 himself was not involved in committing the crimes. They have also challenged the credibility of a number of witnesses.<\/p>\n
Some 4,500 victims joined the procedure as civil parties, represented by legal teams, most of whose members are Chadian lawyers. The victims\u2019 lead lawyer, Jacqueline Moudeina, has been fighting on the victims\u2019 behalf for 15 years to bring Habr\u00e9 to court.<\/p>\n
The trial has been streamed live on the internet and broadcast on national television back in Chad. The woman who stated that she was raped by Hiss\u00e8ne Habr\u00e9 reportedly received threats on her return to Chad. No measures are in place for witness protection.<\/p>\n
The indictment does not include charges of rape, sexual enslavement, or other forms of sexual violence of comparable gravity. The victims\u2019 lawyers have asked that these charges be added.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery day, the Chadian public watched their former president in the dock, as evidence of his alleged crimes was presented,\u201d Brody said, \u201cHabr\u00e9 was not put on trial because the current Chadian government particularly wanted him there, but because a group of brave Chadian survivors and activists fought to get him there.\u201d<\/p>\n
The parties \u2013 the prosecution, the civil parties and the defense \u2013 will present written conclusions. The lawyers\u2019 final summations are scheduled late January or early February 2016. A verdict is expected by the end of May 2016. A final calendar will be decided at the end of the hearings on December 15.<\/p>\n
Judge Kam has said that if Habr\u00e9 is found guilty, there will be a second set of hearings on damages for the civil parties.<\/p>\n
Key information revealed through testimony includes:<\/p>\n
(Dakar) \u2013 The last witness is scheduled to testify on December 15, 2015 in the landmark trial in Senegal of the former Chadian dictator Hiss\u00e8ne Habr\u00e9, Human Rights Watch said today. The lawyers\u2019 closing statements are expected to take place late January or early February 2016, with a verdict by the end of May 2016. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":65471,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[565],"tags":[],"ji_location":[2167],"class_list":["post-25117","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mixed-tribunals","ji_location-chad"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n