Former President of Chad, Hissène Habré, has died while serving a life sentence for crimes against humanity, including killings, torture and sex offenses, during his rule in the 1980s..
Mr. Habré’s death at 79 was confirmed by Lieutenant Mame Balla Faye, the director of the Cap Manuel prison in Senegal, the West African country where Mr. Habré was being held after being convicted there.
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At the time of his death, Tuesday morning, Mr.Habre was not in prison, according to media reports,he had spent 10 days in a nearby clinic receiving treatment for complications related to diabetes and high blood pressure.
Some reported that he had died after being infected with the coronavirus.
Mr. Habré was allowed out of prison for 60 days in April 2020 because a judge said he was particularly vulnerable to the coronavirus. His wife had long petitioned the Senegalese authorities to release him on health grounds even before the pandemic.
When Mr. Habré was convicted in 2016, he became the first former head of state to be convicted of crimes against humanity by another country’s courts.
His victims celebrated their hard-won victory in the Dakar courtroom, having fought for justice for decades. But five years later, nearly 8,000 victims are still waiting for the $150 million in compensation they were jointly awarded
(Editor:Abaje Usekwe).
