The International Court for Justice (ICJ) on Monday began hearing a request lodged by Belgium for ordering Senegal to either prosecute former Chadian dictator Hissene Habre for alleged atrocities committed during his eight-year-long rule in the Central African nation or extradite him to Belgium to stand trial.
Habre has been living under house arrest in a luxury villa in Senegal's capital city of Dakar ever since he fled to Senegal from his home country after being toppled by current Chad President Idriss Deby in 1990.
Belgium had indicted Habre in 2005 for crimes against humanity, war crimes and torture. The charges pressed against the ex-Chadian leader in Belgium are based on complaints filed by survivors of his regime, some of whom have since acquired Belgian citizenship.
Despite repeated requests, Brussels has so far failed to convince Senegal to extradite Habre to Belgium to face trial. Belgium accuses Habre of killing and torturing tens of thousands of his political opponents during his rule from 1982 to 1990. Habre had denied the allegations.
Belgium is seeking to get Habre extradited from Chad and prosecute him for the alleged atrocities under its universal jurisdiction law, which allows the country's judges to prosecute human rights offenses committed anywhere in the world.
In the documents filed at the ICJ, Belgium accuses Senegal of violating the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment as well as its customary international law obligations by its continued failure to either prosecute or extradite Habre.
Belgian representative Paul Rietjens told the ICJ in his opening remarks that the case against Habre was about "taking a stand against impunity in the most serious crimes in international law." Stressing that justice had already been delayed, Rietjens said Habre's victims "are entitled to see the person they accuse of these crimes brought to justice."
Senegal will present its arguments starting Thursday. Hearings will continue at the Hague-based ICJ until March 21. The ICJ's final decision on the issue, though legally binding, is not expected for months.
Belgium took the issue to the ICJ in 2009 after Senegal rejected at least four requests from Brussels for Habre's extradition. Recently, a Senegalese court rejected Belgium's extradition request in January, ruling that it lacked jurisdiction to issue judgment on crimes committed outside the country. Although Senegal's President Abdoulaye Wade said then that he expected the extradition to be imminent and blamed the court's decision on a procedural error, no further action followed.
In 1992, a Truth Commission in Chad had accused Habre of being responsible for widespread torture and the death of 40,000 people during his eight-year rule. Later, a Chadian court had sentenced Habre to death in absentia in 2008 for planing to overthrow the government.
Nonetheless, the Chadian government announced in July 2011 that it backed Habre's extradition from Senegal to Belgium to stand trial. Earlier, the Chadian government had waived Habre's immunity in 2002 to allow his prosecution in Belgium.
Senegal had said last year that it was planning to repatriate Habre to Chad after the African Union urged it to either put him on trial or extradite him to another country which was willing to do so. Those plans were, however, abandoned following a request from the UN, which feared Habre could be denied a fair trial or subjected to torture upon his return to Chad.
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June 12, 2026 17:14 ET Major central bank action was the focus this week in economic news. The European Central Bank became the first major central bank to move in response to the rising inflationary pressures in the backdrop of the conflict in the Middle East. In North America, the U.S. inflation and trade data as well as Canada’s central bank decision gained attention. The Chinese trade data was the main news in Asia.