Senegal and AU to set up special tribunal for Habre trial

Dakar, 23 Aug – (ANA) - Senegal and the African Union have signed an agreement to set up a special tribunal to try Chad's former leader Hissene Habre who has been under house arrest in Senegal since 2005 where he fled after being deposed. The 69 year old  denies charges of killing and torturing tens of thousands of his opponents. The charges date from 1982, when Mr Habre came to power in a coup, until he was ousted in 1990. The deal comes a month after the United Nations highest court, the International Court of Justice, ruled that Senegal must begin proceedings to try Mr Habre "without further delay... if it does not extradite him". Senegal has so far refused four extradition requests. President Macky Sall, who came to power in March, had indicated that he would be willing to prosecute Mr Habre in a special tribunal. Alioune Tine, president of the Dakar-based African Assembly for the Defense of Human Rights, said Senegal had moved "one step close to justice". (ANA)

FA/ANA/23 August 2012------------