Hissene Habre

Hissene Habre is the former president of Chad. Habre ruled the country for eight years and is allegedly responsible for 200,000 cases of torture and 40,000 politically motivated murders during his reign.¹

On August 15, 2008, Chad Court president Judge Ngarhondo Dgide pronounced death sentences against 12 men tried in absentia with no legal defense, including Hissene Habre. Thirty-two other people were also tried in absentia and sentenced to hard labor for attempting to overturn constitutional order. Although arrest warrants were not issued for those sentenced in absentia. It is unknown whether Chad would seek Habre's extradition from Senegal.²

Fast Facts

1. Born: 1942
2. His parents were ethnic Toubou herders in northern Chad¹
3. Studies in France¹
4. Chad is an oil producing country in central Africa²
5. President of Chad from 1982-1990¹
6. Has been called "Africa's Pinochet"¹
7. Has lived in exile in Senegal since 1990²
8. El Hadj Diouf is Habre's lawyer in Senegal²
9. 2005: Belgium conducted an investigation and issued an international arrest warrant for Habre³
10. July 23, 2008: The Senegalese Government amended their constitution to allow for Habre's prosecution and trial in a Senegalese court¹

Timeline

• 1974: He demanded a ransom of 10 million francs for three European hostages his rebels captured¹
• 1982 Became President after seizing power from Goukouni Oueddei¹
• 1983:Drove the Libyans out of Chad with support by the United States and France¹
• 1984: Attacked the ethnic group the Sara¹
• 1987: Attacked the ethnic group the Hadjerai¹
• 1989-1990: Attacked the ethnic group the Chadian Arabs and the Zaghawa¹
• 1990: Disposed as the leader of Chad¹

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