afrol News, 1 December - Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade is assessing the possibilities for a new African tribunal that could try the continents dictators and other high officials accused of crimes against humanity. The idea is launched as Senegal decided to transfer the case of Chad's ex-Dictator Hissène Habré to an upcoming African Union (AU) summit instead of extraditing him to a Belgian court.

President Wade is in need of new concepts. Senegal's Court of Appeal in November said it was "incompetent" to decide whether ex-Dictator Habré should be extradited to Belgium. A possible extradition order now rests on the President, but the matter is delicate.

The Senegalese government earlier this week promised that Mr Habré - who is accused of 40,000 killings while in power - would not escape justice. Foreign Minister Cheikh Tidiane Gadio said the January 2006 AU summit in Khartoum was to decide on the "competent jurisdiction" in the Habré case. The Senegalese feels bothered by the thought of sending a former African President to a court in Europe, but national courts have already ruled they have no juristriction in the case.

President Wade yesterday elaborated on what he expects from the upcoming AU summit. African Heads of State should consider innovative solutions. There was "no reason Africa should not have its own tribunal" to judge cases comparable to that of Mr Habré, the Senegalese President told the press at Dakar's international airport.

The Senegalese Head of State was having a meeting with French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste Blazy at the airport, and the two obviously had discussed the Habré case. Mr Wade told the press that he would "present Africa with its responsibilities" at the AU summit regarding the fate of ex-Dictator Habré. President Wade thus again made it clear that he does not want Senegal to take sole responsibility in this critical issue.

"Affairs like this one are African affairs," Mr Wade continued. "One does not want have a policy of just closing ones eyes like an ostrich. Africa should have courts able to judge all that has its origin in Africa, and not, as someone has said, hand the hot potatoes over to its neighbours," he told the press. The visiting French Minister agreed with President Wade.

While most Senegalese - and Africans - agree that Mr Habré should not escape justice, the ex-Dictators case has become difficult to handle. After Senegal's highest court in March 2001 said that Mr Habré could not stand trial in Senegal for crimes committed elsewhere, victims residing in Belgium achieved that a case against the ex-Dictator was opened in Brussels. Earlier this year, the Belgian court had gathered sufficient evidence to ask for an extradition.

The thought of extraditing a former African Head of State to an ex-colonial power in Europe has increasingly been seen as a recognition of failure for the African judiciary. It has become an issue of pride. President Wade therefore follows up on the ongoing discussion in Senegal by declaring the Habré case "an African affair". An extradition to Belgium seems less and less probable.

But the many victims of the Habré dictatorship, many being organised by human rights groups, are sceptical to the new developments in the case. Most victims prefer Mr Habré to be extradited to Belgium, where they feel sure the ex-Dictator will face justice. They are sceptical to the possibilities of real justice in an African court - just the kind of humiliating argument that President Wade is trying to address.

International human rights groups, on the other hand, are eagerly waiting to see the outcome of Senegal's and the AU's decision. Either decision would be positive: an extradition to Belgium would bring justice to ex-President Habré's victims, while a new African "dictator tribunal" would create a judicial novelty and more justice. In either case, African dictators will have to be more careful in future.

"We welcome Senegal's promise that Hissène Habré will not escape justice," Reed Brody of the New York-based group Human Rights Watch stated earlier this week. Mr Brody also the international campaign for the Chadian victims. "This case must not become a political football," Mr Brody however warned. "Habré's victims have suffered too much and waited too long to find a court willing to listen to their suffering," he added.

Mr Habré ruled Chad from 1982 until 1990, when he was deposed and fled to Senegal. Files of Mr Habré’s political police reveal the names of 1,208 persons who died in detention, as well as over 12,000 victims of different abuses. A Chadian government inquiry published two years ago concluded with even higher numbers of victims: 40,000 persons died in politically motivated killings and some 200,000 Chadians had been tortured.

By staff writers

© afrol News

Related pages and feature

Current afrol News Top Stories