Clément Abaïfouta and 6, 999 Others v the Republic of Chad (Hissène Habré case)
THE CASE
Hissène Habré, former president of Chad, presided over a reign of terror in Chad from 1982 to 1990, during which time widespread human rights violations were committed, including enforced disappearances, torture, arbitrary detentions, and sexual violence.
On 22 August 2012 Senegal and the African Union signed an agreement that provided for the establishment of the Extraordinary African Chambers (EAC) within the Senegalese Judicial System. The EAC had competence over the persons who were most responsible for committing international crimes in Chad from 7 June 1982 to 1 December 1990. The EAC could also, pursuant to its Statute, provide reparation to the victims falling within its jurisdiction.
Victims also turned to the Chadian courts to seek accountability and reparation in regard to international crimes committed by Habré officials.
ACTION FOR JUSTICE
The EAC’s decision
In June 2013, the Senegalese authorities arrested Hissène Habré. He was indicted in July 2013 for war crimes, crimes against humanity, including torture and sexual violence. Habré’s trial before the EAC started in July 2015. The first instance judgement was delivered in July 2016 and resulted in Habré being sentenced to life imprisonment. The Court awarded financial compensation to the civil parties. Both the criminal and civil judgement were appealed before the Appeals Chamber which concluded its appeal hearings in January 2017.
On 8 February 2017, REDRESS submitted an amicus curiae brief on reparations to the Appeals Chamber of the EAC. The submission focused on the determination of the scope of beneficiaries of reparations and the forms and nature of reparations awarded, to ensure that victims were provided with redress in line with the EAC statute and international standards. The brief also discussed at length the establishment of the Trust Fund provided for in the EAC Statute. The African Union created the Trust Fund in 2018, but never operationalised it. To date, the reparation order has not been complied with.
The N’Djamena Court’s decision
In 2000, victims also filed a complaint against Habré-era officials before the Chadian courts. Following several delays due to jurisdictional disputes, the Special Criminal Court of N’Djamena found, on 25 March 2015, 20 officers guilty of committing and being complicit to murder, acts of torture and barbarism, kidnapping, unlawful and arbitrary detention, intentional and lethal physical assault, and cruel treatment.
The Court held the Chadian State liable for reparation in solidum with the convicted persons. It ordered Chad to pay half of the compensation awarded to 7,000 victims, amounting to approximately USD 62.5 million, and the perpetrators to pay the other half (USD 62.5 million). It also ordered a memorial to the victims within a period not exceeding one year, and for the former Directorate of Documentation and Security (DDS) headquarters –where most of the crimes were planned and committed- to be transformed into a museum. The government of Chad has not complied with the judgement to date.
On 28 March 2017, REDRESS and its partners sent a letter to the UN Special Rapporteur on truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence together with a submission by Jacqueline Moudeina, lawyer for the victims in the Hissène Habré case, urging the Special Rapporteur to intervene with the Chadian government concerning the government’s failure to implement the reparation judgement by Chadian courts of 25 March 2015.
Submission before the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights
In November 2017, 7,000 victims of the Hissène Habré regime lodged a human rights complaint against the Government of Chad before the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR), alleging Chad’s failure to comply with the 2015 N’Djamena judgment. The victims are represented by their lawyers—Jacqueline Moudeina, Lambi Soulgan, and Delphine Djiraibé—and are supported by the Association Tchadienne pour la Promotion et la Défense des Droits de l’Homme, REDRESS, and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP.
The ACHPR decided to seize itself of the case. On 13 November 2018, REDRESS and its partners filed their Submissions on admissibility, requesting that the ACHPR refer the case to the African Court or proceed to considering the case on its merits. On 11 August 2023, the ACHPR declared the communication admissible and invited the parties to submit their observations on the merits.
In November 2023, REDRESS and its partners filed their Submissions on the merits, reaffirming Chad’s international responsibility for failing to comply with its duty to implement domestic decisions and provide effective and comprehensive reparation to the victims of the Habré regime. The submissions included two ex parte expert reports highlighting how the lack of implementation has compounded and exacerbated the harm caused by the original violations suffered by the victims and outlining Chad’s international obligations to establish a reparation programme.
In this submission, REDRESS and its partners requested, inter alia, the payment of the full amounts awarded to the victims, as well as measures of rehabilitation, satisfaction, and guarantees of non-repetition.
On 10 July 2025, the ACHPR transmitted to the Applicants Chad’s Response to the Communication, dated December 2023. In its Response, Chad did not challenge the legal arguments advanced by the victims’ representatives, but instead relied on alleged factual and economic constraints limiting its capacity to pay the full amount of compensation and to comply fully with the satisfaction measures ordered by the N’Djamena court.
In August 2025, REDRESS and its partners submitted a rejoinder arguing, among other points, that under international human rights standards, including the ACHPR’s own jurisprudence, economic constraints do not absolve States of their obligation to provide reparation to victims of torture. They further submitted that the measures taken by Chad are not in compliance with the relevant decisions and reiterated the State’s obligation to provide full compensation, stressing the need for a prompt decision by the ACHPR, in light of the particularly vulnerable situation of many victims.
OUTCOMES
On 27 April 2017, the Appeals Chamber of the EAC confirmed Habré’s sentence to life imprisonment. In its decision, the Appeals Chamber partially upheld the initial reparation decision. The overall harm deriving from Habré’s criminal responsibility was quantified at 82,290 billion CFA francs.
The Appeals Chamber instructed the Trust Fund of the African Union to implement the reparation order and did not rule out that collective and moral reparation measures could be implemented in the future.
REDRESS and ATPDH made a submission to the African Union’s Office of Legal Affairs to support the establishment of the Trust Fund for Habré’s victims. The submission outlined what future Terms of Reference (ToR) of the Trust Fund could look like. In January 2018, the African Union adopted a statute for the Trust Fund, thereby enabling the Fund to start its work. However, to date this Trust Fund is not operational.
In September 2022, the Chadian Interim President announced that CFA 10 billion (USD 17.4 million) would be allocated to the AU-established Fund for the Compensation of Victims, but the AU did not take this up. Since February 2024, the Chadian government has disbursed monetary amounts corresponding to a part of this sum to victims of Habré, outside of any compensation commission or Trust Fund. The amount made available by the government represents less than 10% of the total amount owed to the victims. See more on this in our briefing paper.
The case before the ACHPR is still pending a decision on its merits. To date, there is no domestic compensation mechanism formally in place in Chad.
QUICK FACTS
- Case Name: Clément Abaïfouta and 6,999 Others v the Republic of Chad
- Court/Body: African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights
- Date Filed: 10 November 2017
- Current Status: Pending
- Legal representation: Jacqueline Moudeina, Lambi Soulgan and Kemneloun Djirabé, and assisted by the Association Tchadienne pour la Promotion et la Défense des Droits de l’Homme (ATPDH), The Redress Trust (REDRESS), Human Rights Watch and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP.