Torture case against Chad's Habre opens DAKAR: Witnesses gave harrowing accounts on Friday of torture and killings blamed on exiled Chad dictator Hissene Habre at the start of a landmark African human rights case in Senegal's capital Dakar. Three of seven witnesses brought from Chad by human rights activists said they had told of their ordeals at the hands of Habre's henchmen during his 1982-90 rule in one of the most violent countries in Africa. "The judge questioned me about torture while I was in prison (in Chad)," said Samuel Togoto after his closed-door deposition to Judge Demba Kandji in a Dakar court. Habre has been exiled in the Senegalese capital since he was overthrown nine years ago. Togoto, 53, said he told the judge that while in prison, his hands and legs were bound behind his back for so long that he became temporarily paralysed. Sabadet Totodet, another witness, alleges he was forced to dig mass graves to bury the victims of political killings by Habre's secret police. Human rights lawyer Boucounta Diallo said the preliminary hearings could open the way for Habre's prosecution in what activists expect will be a test case in Africa. "We are very confident. There is overwhelming evidence against Habre," he said. "We have waited for such a long time," said witness Suleymane Guengueng, 48. He told lawyers he almost died of dengue fever during two years of mistreatment in Chadian jails. "I hope this will lead to the arrest of Habre," he told reporters earlier as he walked into the seaside courthouse. Kandji adjourned the hearing until Monday when the other witnesses are expected to testify. Public Prosecutor Abdoulaye Gaye on Thursday gave the go-ahead for the Chadians to testify against Habre, who has made no public comment since the campaign against him heated up this week. He faces arrest if the case goes to trial. Reed Brody of the US-based Human Rights Watch, one of the groups spearheading the action, said: "This is the first time that an African court has opened a case based on human rights crimes committed by a former head of state in a foreign country." Africa has witnessed the trial of former despots in the past, notably the late self-styled Central African Republic Emperor Jean-Bedel Bokassa, former Malian President Moussa Traore, and Malawi's late President Kamuzu Banda. All those trials took place in the home country of the fallen dictators. Seven human rights groups filed a criminal complaint in Dakar on Tuesday on behalf of tens of thousands of people they say were tortured or killed by Habre's men. They said they had been inspired by the legal battle in Britain for the extradition of former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet to face torture charges in Spain stemming from his 17-year rule in the South American country. The activists said they had detailed 97 cases of political killings, 142 cases of torture and 100 "disappearances". In its first reaction, the Chadian government of President Idriss Deby, who toppled Habre in a French-backed coup in December 1990, claimed credit for unearthing the atrocities. It said the government had set up a special criminal case to try Habre but had failed to persuade Senegalese authorities to extradite him or help repatriate stolen money and assets. A commission set up by Deby in 1991 accused Habre's administration of being responsible for 40,000 political murders and 200,000 cases of torture. It also said Habre embezzled state funds on a huge scale from the impoverished country, ravaged by decades of conflict until 1990. Habre, 57, has kept a low profile since arriving in Senegal. (Associated Press)
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