Chad ex-dictator Habre to stand trial sought for decades

FILE - In this Wednesday, July 17, 2013 file photo, Clement Abaifouta, president of the association of victims of former Chadian dictator Hissene Habre, wipes away tears after listening to fellow victims recount their stories, at a press conference in Dakar, Senegal. The bodies came daily. Sometimes 10, sometimes 20 lives lost to torture, malnutrition or sickness in prison in Chad, say survivors. Clement Abaifouta had to wrap them in sacks and bury them. He was also a prisoner until 1989 for reasons he still doesn’t understand. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File) FILE - In this Wednesday, July 17, 2013 file photo, Clement Abaifouta, president of the association of victims of former Chadian dictator Hissene Habre, wipes away tears after listening to fellow victims recount their stories, at a press conference in Dakar, Senegal. The bodies came daily. Sometimes 10, sometimes 20 lives lost to torture, malnutrition or sickness in prison in Chad, say survivors. Clement Abaifouta had to wrap them in sacks and bury them. He was also a prisoner until 1989 for reasons he still doesn’t understand. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File)

By Associated Press July 18, 2015 4 min read

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) – The bodies came daily. Sometimes 10, sometimes 20 lives lost to torture, malnutrition or sickness in prison in Chad, say survivors.

Clement Abaifouta, a prisoner himself, had to wrap them in sacks and bury them.

“There was a lot of suffering, a lot of pain,” he said about his time in jail until 1989. “What did I do to have gotten four years in prison? I want to know why.”

Abaifouta wants justice, like thousands of other political prisoners who were victims of torture during Chadian ex-dictator Hissene Habre’s rule from 1982-1990. On Monday Habre will go on trial in Senegal, fulfilling the work of many who say they suffered abuse under his rule and setting a bold precedent for justice in Africa.

For more than a decade after his overthrow Habre lived freely in Senegal. His easy exile was a symbol of impunity in Africa until his he was taken into custody and charged in 2013. Now his trial is a warning to other African dictators that they may be held accountable in Africa for their actions, say human rights experts.