Chads' former dictator to be tried in Senegal

N'Djamena

Chads' former dictator Hissene Habre  will make history on Monday when he is tried in Senegal over his regime's brutality  the first time a despot from one African country has been called to account by another.

Once dubbed "Africa's Pinochet", the 72-year-old has been in custody in Senegal since his arrest in June 2013 at the home he shared with his wife and children.

Rights groups say 40,000 people were killed during his eight years in power under a regime marked by fierce repression of his opponents and the targeting of rival ethnic groups.

Habre, who held power between 1982 and 1990, is charged with crimes against humanity, war crimes and torture.  He will be tried by the Extraordinary African Chambers, a special court established by the African Union under an agreement with Senegal, led by a judge from Burkina Faso.

Delayed for years by Senegal, where Habre has lived since being ousted in 1990, the hearings will set a historic precedent as until now African leaders accused of atrocities have been tried in international courts.

They come at a time when relations between AU members and the International Criminal Court (ICC) are at an all-time low, a month after Sudan's Omar al-Bashir avoided arrest on an international warrant while in South Africa. 

The AU has accused the ICC of targeting only African leaders, noting that major powers such as Russia, China and the United States have refused to place themselves under The Hague-based court's jurisdiction.