{"id":724,"date":"2009-02-23T10:24:50","date_gmt":"2009-02-23T14:24:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.journals.law.harvard.edu\/ilj\/digest\/?p=724"},"modified":"2011-03-09T15:25:12","modified_gmt":"2011-03-09T19:25:12","slug":"belgium-initiates-icj-proceedings-against-senegal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/journals.law.harvard.edu\/ilj\/2009\/02\/belgium-initiates-icj-proceedings-against-senegal\/","title":{"rendered":"Belgium Initiates ICJ Proceedings against Senegal"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>On Thursday, Belgium initiated proceedings at the International Court of Justice against Senegal over the state\u2019s refusal to prosecute Hiss\u00e8ne Habr\u00e9, the former president of Chad.  Habr\u00e9 was the leader of Chad from 1982-1990 and his government was notorious for massacring various ethnic groups and ordering the torture and murder of political opponents. \u00a0He was deposed in 1990 and went into exile in Senegal.<\/p>\n<p>Belgium alleges that since that time Senegal has denied a number of requests to prosecute Habr\u00e9. A complaint was filed in Senegal in 2000, which led to Habr\u00e9 being placed under house arrest after being indicted for \u201ccrimes against humanity, acts of torture, and barbarity.\u201d However, he has not been criminally prosecuted; Senegalese officials claim that it is a lack of funds that has prevented a trial from moving forward. A similar complaint was raised against Habr\u00e9 in Belgian courts in 2001. Belgium issued an international arrest warrant in 2005, but Senegal has taken no action on that warrant.<\/p>\n<p>After repeated attempts at negotiation and\u00a0arbitration over the last several years, Belgium brought its case to the ICJ, citing a violation of the UN Convention against Torture. Belgium requested that the Court require Senegal to bring criminal proceedings against Habr\u00e9, or to extradite him to Belgium. Additionally, Belgian officials asked the ICJ to take provisional measures to ensure that Habr\u00e9 remains under police supervision. Senegalese President Wade has made public comments stating that if the money could not be found for Habr\u00e9\u2019s trial, he would be released from house arrest.<\/p>\n<p>For more information, please click <a href=\"http:\/\/www.icj-cij.org\/docket\/files\/144\/15052.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On Thursday, Belgium initiated proceedings at the International Court of Justice against Senegal over the state\u2019s refusal to prosecute Hiss\u00e8ne 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