The verdict on Monday caps a 16-year
battle by victims and rights campaigners to bring the former leader
to justice in Senegal, where he fled after being toppled in a 1990
coup in the central African nation. 


“Hissene Habre, this court finds
you guilty of crimes against humanity, rape, forced slavery, and
kidnapping,” as well as war crimes, said Gberdao Gustave Kam,
Burkinabe president of the Extraordinary African Chambers (CAE)
court.

“The court condemns you to life in prison,”
Kam added, giving Habre 15 days to appeal against the sentence.


Habre raised his arms into the air on
hearing the verdict, shouting “Down with France-afrique!”,
referring to the term used for France’s continuing influence on its
former colonies.


Human rights groups accuse the
72-year-old of being responsible for the deaths of 40,000 people
during his rule from 1982 to 1990.

Habre’s case was heard by the
Extraordinary African Chambers in Senegal’s capital, Dakar, a special
criminal court set up by the African Union within the West African
nation’s court system.


Reed Brody, a lawyer for Human Rights
Watch who has spent the last 15 years working with victims to bring
Habre to justice, said the landmark case could encourage others to
bring similar action.

“We hope that other survivors,
other activists will be inspired by what Habre’s victims have been
able to do.” 


Victims groups who had travelled to
Dakar to hear the verdict were visibly moved by a judgment that comes
a quarter century after the abuses they suffered.

“The
feeling is one of complete satisfaction,” said Clement
Abeifouta, president of a Habre survivors association.


Habre refused to acknowledge the
legitimacy of the court and had to be physically dragged into the
courtroom in July.


After living in exile in Senegal for
22 years, Habre was arrested in Dakar in July 2013, less than 72
hours after US President Barack Obama expressed his support for a
trial during a visit to Senegal.

Source: Al Jazeera