A special criminal court in Chad has convicted accomplices of Chad’s former President Hissene Habre for crimes of torture and murder committed between 1982 and 1990.

The criminal court in Ndjamena sentenced seven ex-policemen to life imprisonment. Three others were sentenced to 20 years of hard labour. The other convictions ranged from 7 to 20 years in prison. Four of the in total 28 accused have been acquitted.

The defendants were accused of murder, torture, kidnapping, arbitrary detention, and assault and battery. Many of them were top security agents under Habre’s rule and kept key positions in the Chadian administration until they were arrested in 2013 and 2014.

Among the seven men sentenced to life imprisonment were Saleh Younous, former head of the Directorate of Documentation and Security Directorate (DDS), Habre’s political police, and Mahamat Djibrine, described by a 1992 Chadian Truth Commission as one of the “most feared torturers in Chad”. Continue reading →