Sexual Violence Overlooked in Case Against Hissene Habre
(TOKYO, Japan) by Catherine Born
In partnership with 16 women’s rights organizations, IANGEL has signed an open letter to the President and the Chief Prosecutor of the Extraordinary African Chambers denouncing the scarce attention paid to the victims of sexual violence in the trial against former Chadian President Hissène Habré.
The indictment in the case accuses the former dictator of crimes against humanity, war crimes, and crimes of torture. While it does describe instances of rape and sexual violence, it fails to include charges of rape and sexual enslavement. This noticeable exclusion would deprive victims of recognition of crimes they suffered because they are women.
Hissène Habré came to power in the Republic of Chad in 1982. He ruled for 8 years before being ousted and fleeing to Senegal. The National Truth Commission, established by current Chadian President Idriss Déby, published a 1992 report accusing the former dictator of killing and torturing 40,000 people.
The trial, which resumed in September, began 25 years after Habre was overthrown. Called the “event of the year in International Criminal Law” by the New York Times, the trial is being heard by the Extraordinary African Chambers in Senegal.
The issue of sexual violence has received scant attention in the proceedings despite many witnesses reporting that sexual violence was systematic and widespread, including against men and girls as young as 13 years old, and giving accounts of gang rape and sexual slavery in military camps.
The Open Letter, signed by seventeen organizations including the Panzi Foundation of Dr Muwege, asks that more women be invited to testify. We cannot allow the alleged crimes to go unpunished and be forgotten.
READ the documents here:
en français
Lettre Ouverte – violences sexuelles )
To Read More about the Trial:
Le procès de Hissène Habré révèle que ses crimes étaient aussi sexuels
Sources:
- Calamur, Krishnadev. “How Hard Can It Be to Bring a Former African Dictator to Justice?” The Atlantic. Atlantic Media Company, 29 July 2015. Web. 19 Oct. 2015.
- Cruvellier, Thierry. “For Hissène Habré, a Trial by Refusal.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 27 July 2015. Web. 19 Oct. 2015.
- “Hissène Habré.” Human Rights Watch. Human Rights Watch, n.d. Web. 19 Oct. 2015.
- Press Release & Open Letter signed by IANGEL
May 30, 2016 – UPDATE
- UPDATE on the Extraordinary African Chambers trial of Hissène Habré, former President of Chad, who has been found guilty of forced sexual slavery, voluntary homicide, kidnappings of individuals followed by their disappearances, summary executions and torture. The judge accepted to re-qualify the charges and found that the acts of rapes committed against some women and girls in detention as well as in some camps where women and girls where kept in servitude amount to torture and rape as crimes against humanity; and, for the women and girls kept in servitude in some camps, sexual slavery as a crime against humanity. The Chamber also devoted a section of its conclusion to the testimony of Khadija Hassan Zidane who testified that she was raped by Habré himself, and concluded that Habré was guilty of the independent crime of torture as a direct perpetrator.
- http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/may/30/chad-hissene-habre-guilty-crimes-against-humanity-senegal
- http://www.un.org/press/en/2016/sgsm17806.doc.htm