Former Chadian president buried in low-key event in Senegal

By James Tasamba

KIGALI, Rwanda (AA) - A former president of Chad who died earlier this week was buried on Thursday at a low-key ceremony in the Senegalese capital Dakar.

The event at the Muslim cemetery lacked any official tribute to Hissene Hebre in respect for the victims of persecution during his reign, government spokesman and Communication Minister Abderaman Koulamallah told reporters.

The two widows of the late president had initially disagreed on Hebre's burial place.

While first wife Fatime Hachem had wanted for the body to be repatriated to Chad, Fatime Raymonde, the second, opted for it to remain in Senegal.

He is the second foreign ex-president to be buried at the Yoff cemetery in Dakar after former Cameroonian President Amadou Ahidjo in 1989.

Having ruled Chad from 1982 to 1990 with an iron fist, Hebre was ousted in a 1990 coup by Idriss Deby, who died last April, and lived in Senegal for 31 years.

He died at a hospital in Dakar earlier this week at age 79 after suffering from COVID-19 complications.

The Chadian government had announced earlier that it would not oppose the repatriation of the late president's remains but indicated that no official tribute would be paid to him "because of his convictions and out of respect for his victims."

Habre was sentenced to life in prison in 2016 for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and torture by the Extraordinary African Chambers, a tribunal created by Senegal and the African Union.

The sentence set a precedent as being the first time that a country prosecuted the former leader of another nation for rights abuses, and was upheld in 2017 by an appeals court.

Senegalese Justice Minister Malick Sall said that a legal process had been initiated to offer Habre conditional release and would serve the rest of his sentence at home with a bracelet.

His family had been pushing for his release, citing his advanced age, deteriorating health, and the risk of COVID-19 infection in prison.

He was accused of complicity in rapes committed during his eight-year reign, along with ordering the killing and torture of thousands of political opponents.

The court also ordered him to pay nearly €123 million ($146 million) to victims who suffered rape, arbitrary detention, and imprisonment during his rule, which was yet to be paid.

A Chadian commission of inquiry has put the number of victims of repression under the Habre regime at 40,000.

Jacqueline Moudeina, a lawyer for the victims, said that despite his demise, the fight for compensation will continue, noting that the African Union had created a trust fund for the benefit of the victims.