the trial of the former dictator of Chad has begun in Senegal. Hissène Habré is a former U.S. ally who has been described as “Africa’s Pinochet.” He is accused of killing as many as 40,000 people during his eight years in power in the 1980s. Habré is being tried in a special court established after a two-decade-long campaign led by his victims. Attorney Reed Brody of Human Rights Watch, who has worked with victims of Habré’s regime since 1999, praised the start of the trial.
But the trial of Chadian former dictator Hissène Habré has been postponed until September 7 after Habré’s lawyers did not show up to court for the second day of trial.