Hissene Habre back to jail; Fate of a brutal dictator

Former Chadian President who was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2017 has returned to jail after an expiration of his 60 days exit permit. The permit was granted to the former dictator due to the ravaging Corona Virus pandemic spread and the need for jails around the nation to be decongested.

Hissene Habre has demanded for another exit permit which has been turned down. The Senegalese Minister of Justice said any request could only be reviewed when Habre has returned to jail for a period of one more month at least.

Hissene was tried at a special court called the Extraordinary African Chambers set up by the African Union in Senegal. Hissene Habre as on May 30, 2016 sentenced to life imprisonment at first instance by this court for war crimes, torture and crime against humanity, crimes which date as far back as 1982 to 1990, close to 20 years after his era when Habre was still the President of the Chad.

Habre’s rule in Chad was marked by an unprecedented era of terror and intimidation. The Chadian people absolutely lived in constant fear of the unknown. In the 1980’s after he took over power, Habre built a system in Chad where thousands of civilians were arrested and detained arbitrarily for years in completely appalling conditions.

He even oversaw personal punishment meted out to his enemies, giving out orders and was even accused of constantly raping a woman in one of his many dungeons on several occasions. In 1990 when Hissene Habre was ousted from power in a military coup, he stole 3.32 billion francs from the national treasury the day before he fled from the country to Senegal.

Reports actually claimed he could have taken more than the amount that was declared missing. He was reported to often have been in close ties with former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein from whom he received a cash payment of $1 million, an amount he allegedly spent buying political influence in his two decades living in Senegal.

Mimi Mefo Info