Senegal lifts final bar to trial of Chad's Habre

By Diadie Ba DAKAR (Reuters) - Senegal lifted the last constitutional obstacle to its courts trying former Chadian dictator Hissene Habre for human rights crimes, the Senegalese Minister of Justice said on Wednesday. The West African country's upper and lower legislative chambers passed an empowering bill and appointed four judges, paving the way for legal proceedings to start against Habre, who is accused of torturing and killing opponents during his 1982-1990 rule in Chad. Senegal, where Habre has lived since his overthrow, was ordered by the African Union two years ago to try the Chadian, in what campaigners say would be the first time one developing nation has tried someone for human rights abuses in another. "We have witnessed a joint session of the parliament which gave us the legal basis to try President Habre,"... [read full story]