Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-03-16-Speech-4-212"
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"en.20060316.25.4-212"2
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".
Mr President, Commissioner, the case of the former dictator of Chad, Hissène Habré, should not be viewed in isolation but must be considered in the African context, because impunity of former despots is still widespread in Africa. I need only remind you of Charles Taylor from Liberia or Mengistu Haile Mariam from Ethiopia. African Dictators have ruled with extreme violence, suppressed their own people and maintained their positions of power through torture, murder and tyranny. What all of them also have in common is that they have found refuge in other African countries unpunished and have nowhere been called to account.
That is the very thing we can no longer accept, however, because the victims and their families have been fighting for a long time for a trial at which the despots will have to face up to their responsibility. I therefore very much welcome the great amount of progress that has been made in the case of Hissène Habré. In September 2005, a Belgian judge issued an international arrest warrant, as a result of which Hissène Habré was placed under house arrest in Senegal in November.
Senegal has stressed, however, that Hissène Habré should be brought before an African court and that the African Union should decide about it. At its last meeting in January, the African Union set up a committee, which will report in July on what such a court should look like.
Mr President, Commissioner, I believe there are several possible ways of bringing Hissène Habré to court. The most realistic is his extradition to Belgium, since he could quickly be examined by a fair court in Europe. The International Criminal Court might also take on the case. An ad hoc African court, on the other hand, will require a tremendous amount of political will and is probably scarcely possible without an enormous amount of money, time and administrative effort.
It is now up to the African Union to make every effort to ensure that the case of Hissène Habré is finally brought to a conclusion before a court. If, on the other hand, extradition to Belgium is ruled out, then the African Union will have to put forward a precise plan as to how an African court can deal with the matter as quickly as possible.
I would be pleased if a precedent were set here and Hissène Habré were brought to court. The many victims demand it."@en1
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