The African
Union endorsed Senegal's decision to
try Hissene Habre (hee-SEHN
HAH-BRAY), the former president of
Chad. Mr. Habre has been living in
Senegal since being overthrown in
1990. In May, the United Nations
Committee Against Torture said that
Senegal would be violating
international human rights laws by
not taking action.
Hissene Habre
ruled Chad from 1982 to 1990. A
commission set up by the Chadian
government says that his regime was
responsible for some forty-thousand
politically-related deaths and
two-hundred-thousand cases of
torture.
Kolawole
Olaniyan, director of Amnesty
International's African Program,
says, "Habre's victims have been
fighting for sixteen years to see
justice done." He says, "It is time
for Habre to face trial for his
alleged crimes."
Reed Brody, an
attorney with Human Rights Watch,
says the prosecution is "a real
turning point in the international
effort to bring Habre to justice":
"I think this
is a victory of law over politics.
You have two legal bodies, one the
U-N Committee Against Torture, and
the other this expert panel from the
African Union, who have both said to
Senegal, 'Look, this is your
responsibility. You signed the
torture convention. You ratified it
and said that if an alleged torturer
came onto your territory, you would
not give that person safe haven'".
The U.S. is
also a signatory of the convention.
President George W. Bush has "called
on all nations to speak out against
torture in all its forms and to make
ending torture an essential part of
their diplomacy." He said, "No
people, no matter where they reside,
should have to live in fear of their
own government."
The
preceding was an editorial
reflecting the views of the United
States Government.
