Former president of Chad Hissène Habré [BBC profile] will begin his appeal [press release, in French] on Monday against the life sentence and fines imposed on him this past summer by the Extraordinary African Chambers [official website], a body created by Senegal and the African Union. He was found guilty of sex slavery, rape and the killings of an estimated 40,000 people during his rule from 1982 to 1990 and was ordered to repay $33,000 to each victim who suffered during his presidency.

Habré, who fled to Senegal after being deposed in 1990, was indicted [JURIST report] by the Extraordinary African Chambers in July 2013 and placed in pretrial detention. In September 2015 the former leader was carried into court [JURIST report] by masked security agents following his refusal to participate in his own trial. In July 2015 the Extraordinary African Chambers in Senegal suspended [JURIST report] his trial on charges of crimes against humanity, torture and war crimes, reportedly due to the need for court appointed lawyers to prepare the former leader’s defense. In March 2015 a criminal court in Chad sentenced [JURIST report] Habré-era police officers to prison tor torture. In 2013 more than 1,000 victims filed for civil party status, asking the Extraordinary African Chambers to officially recognize them as parties with an interest in the matter. The African Union began talks with Senegal to come up with a plan for Habré’s trial after the International Court of Justice ruled [JURIST report] in July 2012 that Senegal must either try Habré promptly or extradite him to Belgium for trial.