CHAD’s former dictator Hissene Habre, whose government was accused of killing tens of thousands and became the first former head of state to be convicted of crimes against humanity by an African court after spending decades in luxurious exile in Senegal, has died in a hospital in Senegal. He was 79.
Habre, whose case for years showcased Africa’s reluctance to put its despots on trial, had recently contracted COVID-19 according to local media reports. His death Tuesday at a Dakar hospital was confirmed by Jean Bertrand Bocande, director of the penitentiary administration.
The former dictator had been sentenced to life imprisonment in 2016 but ultimately served about five years in prison following his trial on charges linked to his time in power from 1982 to 1990.
Human rights activists say Chad was a ruthless, one-party state under Habre’s rule. A fearsome security service headed by members of Habre’s Gorane ethnic
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