TUESDAY- 24th August, 2021: Former Chadian president Hissène Habré, who was serving a life term in Senegal for war crimes and crimes against humanity, has died, Senegalese Justice Minister Malick Sall said Tuesday. He was 79.
"Habré is in his Lord's hands," Sall told the television channel TFM.
The Chadian consulate said he had died of Covid-19.
Habré, who ruled Chad from 1982 to 1990, was a brutal dictator under whose reign tens of thousands of people were executed, tortured or jailed.
Sentenced to life after a landmark trial, Habré spent his final years as a prisoner in Senegal, where he died in hospital, Senegalese officials confirmed Tuesday.
In May 2016, Habré was handed a life term for war crimes, crimes against humanity and torture by the Extraordinary African Chambers, a tribunal created by Senegal and the African Union (AU).
The trial set a global precedent, establishing the first time that a country prosecuted a former leader of another nation for rights abuses. The sentence was upheld in 2017.
The court ordered him to pay compensation to each victim who suffered rape, arbitrary detention and imprisonment during his rule, as well as to their relatives.
