Lenah
Follow us
Justice Hub
  • My Justice
  • News
  • Insights
  • Justice Explained
  • About Us
No Result
View All Result
Justice Hub
  • My Justice
  • News
  • Insights
  • Justice Explained
  • About Us
No Result
View All Result
Justice Hub
No Result
View All Result

Feedback on the Habré trial in the presence of witnesses, in N’Djamena

February 3, 2016
in News
0
0
Home News
FacebookTwitterLinkedInWhatsappEmail

By Franck Petit

The Outreach Consortium of the Extraordinary African Chambers (EAC) was in the Chad’s capital, N’Djamena, for a dialogue with the victims and a town-hall meeting in the presence of witnesses in the Hissein Habré trial before the Extraordinary African Chambers (EAC). Emotions were still high among those who participated in Dakar.
 
Several hundred participants, including some students and journalists, gathered in N’Djamena’s CEFOD amphitheatre at the invitation of the EAC Outreach Consortium for a video sum-up of the trial of the former Chadian president. This was an opportunity for those who have participated in the trial as witnesses to describe how they feel about it.
 
Robert Hissein Gambier was among those who attended the morning session. He was nicknamed by the prison staff as Sabagalmout – “the man who runs faster than death” –and was among the remarkable witnesses in the trial, especially thanks to his poignantly accurate and theatrical account of N’Djamena’s detention centres, of which he is a survivor. While he did not speak during the debate, he followed it very attentively with the assistance of his 15 year-old son, Ibrahim, and a hearing aid.
 

“A common link between the facts”

In the afternoon, the DDS’s “grave digger”, Clément Abaïfouta, president of the Association of Victims of the Hissein Habré Regime (AVCRHH), shared his experience about the trial in Dakar. “Twenty-five years on, I am finally in position to say that tongues have loosened. After all the testimonies, Senegalese who considered Hissein Habré as someone who wouldn’t harm a fly, came up to us with apologies, saying how bad they felt upon realising that the person they had been harbouring is a monster.”
 
According to Abaïfouta, there is a common link between the facts recounted by the eyewitnesses and the victims, including the ones recounted by one defence witness who, in the end, testified against Hissein Habré. “Because one cannot do otherwise”, he says. Abaïfouta then went on to describe his sense of relief. “Before my testimony, I did not sleep for two nights. I kept thinking about the things I was going to say. Afterwards, I felt a sense of relief, as though I had finally delivered the ‘child’ I had been carrying for 25 years.” 
 
Outman Moussa, a member of the Chadian human rights league (RADHT), and a survivor of the killing of 20 fellow Hadjarai, also testified at the trial. He urged for unity among the victims’ associations. “The few who testified in Dakar defended both their own cause and that of the victims. We must support our lawyers to the bitter end.” He described what he calls “security flaws” within the EAC, saying that some witnesses have received threats from partisans of the former president.
 
For Ousmane Abakar Taher also, those who testified took risks and this puts their lives on the line when they return to Chad. He explained, “I am Gorane, Hissein Habré’s ethnicity. When I left for Dakar, some of my relatives asked me why I was creating divisions among Goranes. I have received physical threats. But we must look beyond this community-centric approach. The outreach ought to help everyone all over Chad understand that we are not against Habré, but rather that our testimony is against a system and against the crimes which were committed.”
 

“Overcome the feeling that we are all guilty”

Gilbert Maoundonodji, director of Magic, which is responsible for the EAC outreach in Chad, said, “We must overcome the feeling that we are all guilty. Simply because a leader engages in wrongdoing does not mean that his entire community is to blame. Each and every community was impacted. We must explain that under the law, it is the individual who is held responsible, and not the community.” 
 
The participants urged the EAC Outreach Consortium to extend its mission to remote corners of Chad. Clément Abaïfouta said, “I would like to thank the Consortium for the work it’s doing in places where we cannot reach. It is not doing this for its own sake, but for what we believe. The results are there for everyone to see. When the trial is shown on TV, there is no one in the streets.” In concluding, he said, “At the end of the day, we are now writing the history of our country. No one should miss out on this!”
 
Franck Petit is the EAC Outreach Consortium’s communication expert. 
 
Lead image: Hissein Habré in court in Senegal (Photo: EPA/Str)
 
 
Tags: ChadJustice News
ShareTweetShareSendSend

Justice Hub

Justice Hub is an online platform connecting conversations about international justice.

Related Posts

ICL Media Review: Russian veterans seek ICC investigation into use of mercenaries in Syria
ICL Media Review

ICL Media Review: Russian veterans seek ICC investigation into use of mercenaries in Syria

by ICL Media Review
November 18, 2019
0
26

In this week's review, news about the ECCC conviction of Chea and Samphan for genocide, the adjournment of Kwoyelo’s trial...

Read more
NPWJ: Trump’s Transgender Military Ban Gets a Boost

NPWJ: Trump’s Transgender Military Ban Gets a Boost

January 24, 2019
42
ICL Media Review: Charles Taylor’s ex-wife pleads not guilty in UK trial on torture in Liberia

ICL Media Review: Charles Taylor’s ex-wife pleads not guilty in UK trial on torture in Liberia

January 24, 2019
38
ICL Media Review: Uganda ordered to compensate former LRA fighter Thomas Kwoyelo

ICL Media Review: Uganda ordered to compensate former LRA fighter Thomas Kwoyelo

January 24, 2019
29
NPWJ: European Parliament to hold hearing on the current human rights and humanitarian situation in Yemen

NPWJ: European Parliament to hold hearing on the current human rights and humanitarian situation in Yemen

January 22, 2019
45

Justice Hub

Justice Hub is an online platform connecting conversations about international justice.

Justice Hub

Justice Hub is an online platform aimed at a worldwide audience of 18-35 year olds, especially in countries where people are looking for sustainable and innovative solutions to problems of justice, peace and security. Justice can feel too abstract, too often owned by experts. We make the conversations lively and accessible.

Follow Us

Quick Links

  • Featured
  • My Justice
  • News
  • Insights
  • Justice Explained
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy

 

  HPPJ Forum Login
Creative Commons Licence
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
No Result
View All Result
  • My Justice
  • News
  • Insights
  • Justice Explained
  • About Us

© 2018 Justice Hub

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Fill the forms bellow to register

*By registering into our website, you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.
All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Login

Lost password?
This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.

REPUBLISHING TERMS

You may republish this article online or in print under our Creative Commons license. You may not edit or shorten the text, you must attribute the article to Aeon and you must include the author’s name in your republication.

If you have any questions, please email nsharafa@gmail.com

License

Creative Commons License AttributionCreative Commons Attribution
Feedback on the Habré trial in the presence of witnesses, in N’Djamena