Court unable to hear Habre trial
2009-12-16 07:34
Arusha, Tanzania -The African human rights court, in its first ever case on Tuesday, ruled itself incompetent to decide whether charges against Chad's former president Hissene Habre should be dropped.
The Tanzania-based African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights was hearing a petition lodged in 2008 by a Chadian national, Michelot Yogogombaye, seeking to have Habre's planned trial in Senegal quashed.
The African Union, which established the court in 2006, had in the same year called for Habre's case to be heard in Senegal, where he has been exiled since his toppling in 1990.
The former Chadian dictator is facing crimes against humanity charges stemming from accusations of killing and torturing tens of thousands during his rule between 1982 and 1990.
"The court unanimously declares that it is incompetent to decide on the petition by Mr Yogogombaye against Senegal," read a ruling.
It added that Senegal had not made any official communication acknowledging the court's competence to hear petitions filed directly by individuals or non-governmental groups.
Yogogombaye had asked the judges to "take note, in the current case made for the inculpation and judgement of Hissein Habre, of the political character, the financial motive and the abusive use of the principle of universal jurisdiction."
Yogogombaye, who lives in Switzerland and who was absent during Tuesday's ruling, had suggested a South African-style truth and reconciliation commission to deal with crimes committed in Chad between 1962 and 2008.