Ex-Chad president held in Senegal on crimes against humanity charges News
Ex-Chad president held in Senegal on crimes against humanity charges

[JURIST] Hissene Habre [Wikipedia profile], the former president of Chad [BBC backgrounder] wanted by a Belgian court for crimes against humanity allegedly committed during his rule, has been arrested and is being held in Senegal, lawyers said Tuesday. Habre has been indicted in Belgium for his alleged crimes, which, human rights groups contend, consist of some 40,000 executions and the torture of over 200,000 people. Belgium issued an arrest warrant for Habre [JURIST report] in September under its universal jurisdiction laws which allow it to prosecute crimes against humanity regardless of where the crimes were committed or where the defendant resides. Habre, who came to power in 1982, has lived in exile in Senegal since being ousted as head of state by rebels in 1990. A Senegal court will now decide whether to extradite Habre to Belgium BBC News has more.