How do two men manage to bring a former dictator to justice? Under the rule of Hissène Habré in Chad, thousands were tortured and murdered. He has never been tried for his crimes.
But this looks set to change thanks to the efforts of human rights activist Reed Brody. A documentary on his work by filmmaker Klaartje Quirijns premiered at the IDFA documentary film festival in Amsterdam.
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Former Chadian president |
Hissène Habré is held to be responsible for the murder of 40,000 people and the torture of 200,000. After the 1990 coup by current president Idriss Déby, Mr Habré flew to Senegal, where he lives a life of luxury in two houses by the beach.
The documentary The Dictator Hunter by Klaartje Quirijns shows how Mr Habré is to face trial after all, thanks to the unrelenting work of two men.
Singing to survive
The documentary opens with footage of a man approaching through a street in New York, singing softly to himself. He is Souleyman Guengueng, one of the victims of the Habré regime.
Mr Guengueng explains that he survived the most appalling torture and imprisonment by singing. Along with US human rights activist Reed Brody he is one of the driving forces behind the attempt to bring Hissène Habré to justice for his crimes.
In Mr Guengueng and Mr Brody, documentary filmmaker Klaartje Quirijns sees two determined men, each from a different background, striving to achieve the same goal. Ms Quirijns says:
"For a long time I had the idea of making a documentary about a dictator and his victims. I wanted to know how someone responsible for the deaths of thousands of people could just carry on eating his breakfast in the morning."
Determination
Via a friend in New York, Ms Quirijns contacted Reed Brody, an attorney with Human Rights Watch who has been gathering evidence on Hissène Habré's crimes for some time. He introduced her to Souleyman Guengueng. "Through these two men I was immediately able to visualise the film," she says.
Reed Brody's determination becomes clear in the film when UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour asks him to go and work for her. After much hesitation, Brody refuses the prestigious and lucrative job in Geneva, because he doesn't want to let down Hissène Habré's victims.
"We knew the women were coming to the cemetery and for many of them it would be for the first time. They had all lost brothers, sons and husbands during Habré's cruel regime. When they arrived at the cemetery they all suddenly started crying and screaming. It was very emotional, I couldn't watch what my cameraman was doing anymore, because I was crying myself."
Justice after all
At first Mr Habré was to be tried in Belgium, where a special law allows for people to be tried for crimes committed in other countries. When Belgium softened the law under pressure from the United States, it seemed Mr Habré would escape justice.
To Reed Brody and Souleyman Guengueng's great relief, on 2 July 2006 the African Union decided Mr Habré should be tried in Senegal by a special war tribunal. Mr Brody says when he heard the decision it was one of the best days of his life. For Mr Guengueng, it was the fulfilment of a wish he had dedicated his life to achieving. Hissène Habré's trial is expected to start next year.
Tags: Chad, dictator, documentary, Hissène Habré, IDFA, Idriss Déby, Klaartje Quirijns, murder, Reed Brody, The Dictator Hunter, torture