AU to Senegal: try or extradite Habre
A picture dated 18 January 1987 of Chad 's exiled former president Hissene Habre taken in N'Djamena. Hissene Habre was charged late 03 February 2000 in Dakar with 'complicity in acts of torture' following complaints filed against him last week by several human rights organisations, Habre's lawyer said.
The African Union says Senegal must try the former dictator of Chad who has been living in the Senegalese capital for decades.
The AU decision passed Friday during a summit in Equatorial Guinea states it is "incumbent on Senegal in accordance with its international obligations to take steps to bring Hissene Habre to trial, or extradite him."
Habre who is accused of torturing and executing opponents has become a symbol of Africa's unwillingness to try its own. He has lived in Senegal since 1990, and Senegal agreed to create a special court to try him more than five years ago.
Human Rights Watch applauded the move, saying it is the first time that the AU has taken such a strong stance.
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