Chad
The central African state of Chad emerged from three decades of civil war in 1990 with the overthrow of President Hissène Habré by Libyan-backed Idriss Déby. The country was placed at the top of the Fund for Peace 2014 “high alert” ranking of fragile (failed) states, and sixth in the organization’s overall ranking of states at risk.
Déby, who was killed in April 2021, was accused of systematic human rights violations, and similar charges have been levelled against the transitional government that has been in power since his death. In January 2023, Human Rights Watch published a report on the treatment of hundreds of people who were detained following protests in October 2022. It said the detainees “were effectively held incommunicado . . . as they had no access to family members and lawyers.” HRW called on the Chadian authorities “to publish a list of all detainees from in and around the October 20 protests and release them on bail. If a court rules that there are lawful grounds to justify their continued detention, authorities should transfer them to N’Djamena, where they may access family members or counsel, and participate in transparent public legal proceedings.”
The Chad Truth Commission estimated that the regime of Hissène Habré was responsible for more than 40,000 political killings during eight years in power. Many of the victims are still missing.
In January 2000, supported by Human Rights Watch, 31 Chadians filed a criminal complaint against Habré in a court in Senegal, where the former dictator had been living since his overthrow. The victims presented details of 97 killings, 142 cases of torture, 100 enforced disappearances, and 736 arbitrary arrests.
Under pressure from the UN, the International Court of Justice, families of victims and human rights groups, Habré was finally arrested in Senegal in June 2013. The following month he was charged with crimes against humanity, torture and war crimes.
In 2013 a team of four Senegalese judges visited Chad to investigate charges against Habré filed by a special Senegalese court established to try the former dictator. Habré was convicted in May 2016 and died in prison in August 2021.
