Dictator faces criminal court
2007-07-13 07:32
Dakar - Former Chadian dictator Hissene Habre, facing charges of crimes against humanity, will stand trial in a criminal court and not a special tribunal as earlier planned, a Senegalese minister said on Thursday.
Justice Minister Sheik Tidiane Sy said instead of creating a special court, Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade had mooted the use of a modified criminal court to reduce costs.
Sy told a news conference that Wade did not want to spend a huge amount of money to establish a special war crimes tribunal for Habre, exiled in Senegal for 16 years.
"An exercise of this kind is excessively expensive. President (Wade) told us he could not ask Africa to commit itself to this special court," he said.
An initial study into the special tribunal showed it could cost up to $90m.
Senegal, which had twice refused to put Habre on trial, agreed last July to an African Union (AU) call to put him in the dock.
Early this year Senegal's parliament passed a law allowing the country to try Habre, who is facing charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed between 1982 and 1990.
An official truth commission report in 1992 accused Habre's regime of committing some 40 000 political murders - among whom only 4 000 victims have been officially named.
A feasibility report presented to Wade "on the option of a reformed criminal court considerably reduced the new budget by almost half", Sy said.
In January, Senegalese lawmakers voted on laws giving the country jurisdiction to try cases relating to war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, paving way for the Habre case.
But victims and rights organisations have deplored the lack of progress since then and asked the AU to ensure the hearing is organised soon.
"We are heading for a trial that will involve more than 20 000 witnesses ... who need to be protected and transported," Sy said.
"Senegal is firmly committed to trying Habre," he said. "It has taken all appropriate measures to ensure a fair trial."
But he said Dakar would not succumb to pressure to hasten the verdict.