Ten years on, Chadian ex-dictator Habre's trial inspires global justice • FRANCE 24 English

Added: 2026-05-31

[00:00:00]On the 30th of May, 2016, in the Palais de Justice behind me, a pivotal moment unfolded here in Dakar when it comes to human rights. When Chadian dictator Hissène Habré was convicted of crimes against humanity, war crimes, torture, rape, and sexual slavery by a special court that'd been set up by the African Union and Senegal.

[00:00:22]The Chadian dictator Hissène Habré's reign was one of systematic terror.

[00:00:27]40,000 people were left dead, tens of thousands were tortured, and raped, and sexual slavery was used as a tool of repression in the country.

[00:00:39]>> He was a criminal. I saw it with my own eyes. People tortured, sick, taken to be executed.

[00:00:45]The fathers of families just because you're the head of state and no one dares to challenge you.

[00:00:52]>> It was the survivors who were the advocates of this process. They led the charge for more than 18 years to make sure it ended up here in Dakar. Over 4,000 of the victims registered with the court, and hundreds testified.

[00:01:05]>> With all the suffering I had gone through in the days of Hissène Habré, I forgot it all that day.

[00:01:11]Because that's what I was looking for, justice.

[00:01:14]And that day, here we were, in front of him.

[00:01:18]I celebrated that day with my family, the neighbors. I invited everyone because I was proud and I was happy.

[00:01:26]In front of my family, in front of my children, who thought that their dad was missing, that he was dead. I said, "Here is your father. He is alive."

[00:01:35]And here is the one who did harm.

[00:01:37]Today, I am with him, facing justice.

[00:01:43]>> The case set an important precedent, and it proved that impunity is not inevitable.

[00:01:48]It also inspired cases around the world, including the hybrid court next door in The Gambia.

[00:01:53]>> So, this case broke new ground in a lot of ways. It's the first and still the only time that a former head of state of one country, Chad, was prosecuted and convicted in another country, Senegal, for human rights crimes. Um it's the only time that a former president has been uh prosecuted and convicted by an international court of personally uh having committed rape uh and other and other sexual abuse.

[00:02:22]>> 10 years on and the victims of Habré's regime are still asking for reparations.

[00:02:28]Commentators also say that international justice in general is at a crossroads as the institutions seem to be functioning, but the political will to enforce any ruling is lacking.

[00:02:38]>> Sometimes you have to wait for political circumstances to change uh in order for justice actually to happen. So, I would say to, you know, the victims in Ukraine, I would say to victims in Gaza, I would say to victims all around the world, um the Habré case says, "Don't give up."

[00:02:57]Um just as you know, just as the Habré case says to dictators, you know, "Don't think you've gotten away with it." The Habré case says to victims and activists, "Don't give up."