Dakar, October 16, 2015 – Five weeks after the start of the trial of former Chadian dictator, Hissène Habré, 17 women’s rights organizations have issued an Open letter denouncing the insufficient attention given to sexual violence in the indictment.
The letter, addressed to the President and Chief Prosecutor of the Extraordinary African Chambers warns, “Failing to prosecute Hissène Habré for sexual crimes would be a missed historical opportunity, depriving a large number of victims recognition for the crimes they suffered because they are women.”
As the Chambers are about to hear the testimonies of victims of sexual violence for the first time, the letter deplores the scant attention crimes of sexual violence have received in the trial against Habré. Existing testimonies suggest that sexual violence was widespread, including against men, and give accounts of gang rape as well as sexual slavery in military camps.
In an effort to ensure that crimes of sexual violence are not forgotten and do not go unpunished, the signatories of the open letter ask that more women be called to testify, and that each witness and victim who could have knowledge of relevant facts be questioned on the use of sexual violence in detention centers and military camps, as well as during arrests and military operations.
A judgment against Habré recognizing acts of sexual violence as war crimes and crimes against humanity would be in line with existing jurisprudence from international tribunals, and would send a strong message to the international community and to future generations that sexual violence is not a collateral effect of war or of a repressive regime, but constitutes an independent crime itself.
Seventeen organizations signed the Open letter, notably African organizations such as the Panzi Foundation of Dr Muwege, winner of numerous human rights prizes, including the United Nations Human Rights Prize and the Sakharov prize of the European Parliament, as well as American organizations such as the Human Rights Institute at Yale University. ICAAD, the Women’s Initiatives for Gender Justice and Equality Now, three international women’s rights organizations that advocate for the prosecution of sexual violence and gender-based crimes also signed the letter.
The Habré trial is currently being heard by the Extraordinary African Chambers in Senegal, which has jurisdiction for crimes against humanity, war crimes, and torture. The Chambers were inaugurated by Senegal and the African Union in February 2013 to proceed against the principal individuals responsible for international crimes committed in Chad between 1982 and 1990 when Hissène Habré was in power. The trial resumed on September 7, 2015 and should last until December 2015. More than one hundred witnesses have been called to testify thus far.
Read the open letter here.