Belgium sues Senegal for hiding Chad war criminal Habré

Belgium 's charges against Senegal will be heard from April 5 to 8 2009 at the Peace Palace in The Hague. Senegal is being sued before the UN court because of the refusal by Senegal to prosecute former Chad president Hissène Habré for human rights- and war crimes. He is a convicted war-criminal: he was tried in absentia by Chad and sentenced to death. Since 1990, the Chadian ex-dictator has been hiding out in a luxury villa in Senegal - under the clear protection of that country's government, Belgium alleges. The small European country has lodged the suit on behalf of Belgian citizens of Chadian origin who testified about the man's war-crimes during his trial-in-absentia. The dead heart of Africa

Vredespaleis Den Haag The International Court of Justice - the principal judicial organ of the United Nations -- holds hearings about inter-country disputes. It was founded by US philanthropist Dale Carnegie. image:48457:0::0

Officially known as the Republic of Chad, it's a landlocked country in central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic to the south, Cameroon and Nigeria to the southwest, and Niger to the west. Due to its distance from the sea and its largely desert climate, the country is sometimes referred to as the "Dead Heart of Africa". Tens of thousands were murdered Belgium claims in its documentation in The Hague that Senegal is violating international human rights laws for its failure arrest and prosecute Habré, despite his conviction as a war-criminal and despite the overwhelming evidence at this trial that during his eight-year rule, tens of thousands of political opponents were murdered. Human Rights Watch supports the Belgian government's action, said the ICJ case is 'a major step toward combating impunity associated with these horrific crimes.' Belgium has been urging Senegal for years that Habré either be tried in Senegal or turned over to Belgium for the criminal trial which was prepared for him in Belgium on behest of Belgian citizens of Chadian origin. also see our previous story about Chad in 2008 here Belgium is asking the ICJ to issue a court order placing Habré under house-arrest to prevent him from fleeing, pending the case. see

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Satellite pictures, right: Chad 's relentless march towards desertification can be seen in these images of its shrinking lake bed, and which loss is forcing its population into an increasingly desperate battle for shrinking resources. The man's advocate El Hadj Diaouf has branded the Belgian legal move as 'a new form of judicial imperialism.' "Belgium must relinquish its colonial attitude. It must respect the African Union, which has given Senegal the legal right to try Habré. And Senegal is preparing itself for this trial,' claims Hadj Diaouf. However Alioune Tine of the Senegalese human rights organisation RADDHO welcomes the news and rejects the 'colonialism' charge. "Belgium quite correctly demands that Senegal must follow the directions of the African Union. However in reality, Senegal has done nothing whatsoever to try Habré,' said Tine. Senegalese Minister of justice Madicke Niang however claimed last year that "Habré cannot be tried twice for the same crime'. Human Rights Watch notes however that the Chadian death sentence proclaimed against Habré had dealt with entirely different human-rights violations than the cases which Belgium wants Senegal to either try him for, or to extradite him to Belgium for. File case: International Court of Justice, No 2009/14 link for journalists: see