Senegalese authorities suspend repatriation of former Chad leader

Senegalese authorities suspend repatriation of former Chad leader

2011-07-11 03:52:27 GMT+7 (ICT)

DAKAR (BNO NEWS) -- Senegal has suspended the repatriation of former Chadian president Hissène Habré, who faces the death penalty in his home country, Senegal's foreign minister said on Sunday.

According to the BBC, Senegal's Foreign Minister Madicke Niang announced the decision to suspend the repatriation following an appeal by United Nations human rights chief Navi Pillay. Senegalese officials had said the former leader, who fled to Senegal after being forced from power in 1990, would be returned on Monday.

Pillay expressed concern that Habré could be tortured in Chad. Earlier Pillay said in a statement: "As a party to the Convention Against Torture, Senegal may not extradite a person to a state where there are substantial grounds for believing he would be in danger of being subjected to torture."

Habré was sentenced to death in absentia in August 2008 for allegedly ordering the killing and torture of tens of thousands of opponents between 1982 and 1990, charges he denies. A 1992 Truth Commission in Chad accused him of being responsible for widespread torture and the death of 40,000 people during his eight-year rule.

Habré, 69, has been living in the Senegalese capital, Dakar, since he was ousted. He was arrested in 2005 after he was charged by Belgium with crimes against humanity and torture.

Amnesty International on Saturday urged the Senegalese authorities not to return Habré to Chad, saying that an unfair trial "will not bring real justice to the thousands who suffered human rights violations during his rule."

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