Hissène Habré

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Hissène Habré was born on 13 August 1942 in Faya-Largeau, northern Chad, then a colony of France, into a family of shepherds. He was a member of the Anakaza branch of the Daza Gourane ethnic group, part of the Toubou. After primary schooling, he obtained a post in the French colonial administration, where he impressed his superiors and gained a scholarship to study in France at the Institute of Higher International Studies in Paris. He completed a university degree in political science in Paris and returned to Chad in 1971. After a brief period of government service as a deputy prefect, he visited Tripoli and joined the National Liberation Front of Chad (FROLINAT), becoming a commander in the Second Liberation Army alongside Goukouni Oueddei. Habré first came to international attention on 21 April 1974, when a group under his command attacked the town of Bardaï in Tibesti and took three Europeans hostage: a German physician, Christoph Staewen (whose wife Elfriede was killed in the attack), and two French citizens, Françoise Claustre and Marc Combe. Staewen was released on 11 June 1974 after significant payments by West German officials. Combe escaped in 1975, but Claustre was not released until 1 February 1977. This became known as the 'Claustre Affair' in France. In August 1978 Habré was given the posts of Prime Minister of Chad and Vice President of Chad as part of an alliance with Gen. Félix Malloum. The power-sharing alliance collapsed in February 1979 when Habré's forces and the national army fought in N'Djamena. In November 1979 a new national government was formed, with Habré appointed Minister of Defense. Fighting resumed within weeks, and in December 1980 Habré was driven into exile in Sudan. In 1982 he resumed his fight; his Armed Forces of the North (FAN) won control of N'Djamena in June, and he was appointed head of state. After rising to power, Habré created the Documentation and Security Directorate (DDS), a secret police force under which opponents were tortured and executed. Methods included burning the body with incandescent objects, spraying gas into eyes, ears and nose, forced swallowing of water, and forcing mouths around exhaust pipes of running automobiles. His government also periodically engaged in ethnic cleansing against groups such as the Sara, Hadjerai and Zaghawa. Habré led Chad during the Libyan-Chadian conflict, culminating in victory during the Toyota War from 1986 to 1987 with French support. He was overthrown in the 1990 Chadian coup d'état by Idriss Déby and fled, with $11 million of public money, to Senegal. In May 2016, Habré was found guilty of human-rights abuses, including rape, sexual slavery, and ordering the killing of 40,000 people by an international tribunal in Senegal in collaboration with the African Union and sentenced to life in prison. He died on 24 August 2021 after testing positive for COVID-19.

Reader's Guide

The United States and France supported Habré, seeing him as a bulwark against Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. Under President Ronald Reagan, the United States gave covert CIA paramilitary support to help Habré take power and remained one of his strongest allies, providing massive amounts of military aid. The U.S. also used a clandestine base in Chad to train captured Libyan soldiers. Documents obtained by Human Rights Watch show that the United States provided Habré's DDS with training, intelligence, arms, and other support despite knowledge of its atrocities. Records describe training programs by U.S. instructors for DDS agents, including a course in the United States attended by some of the DDS' most feared members. Human Rights Watch later dubbed Habré 'Africa's Pinochet.' The 2016 conviction by a Senegalese tribunal, the first of a former head of state in another nation's court, set a precedent for international accountability. However, the source notes disputes over the number of victims: Human Rights Watch claims 1,200 killed and 12,000 tortured, while a domestic Chadian commission of inquiry claims as many as 40,000 killed and more than 200,000 subjected to torture.

Did You Know?

• Habré was the first former head of state to be convicted for human rights abuses in the court of another nation.
• His secret police, the Documentation and Security Directorate (DDS), used methods including forcing detainees' mouths around the exhaust pipes of running automobiles.
• Habré first came to international attention in 1974 when his group took three Europeans hostage, including French archaeologist Françoise Claustre, in what became known as the 'Claustre Affair'.
• The United States gave covert CIA paramilitary support to help Habré take power under President Ronald Reagan.
• Human Rights Watch claims 1,200 were killed and 12,000 tortured under Habré, while a Chadian commission claims as many as 40,000 killed and over 200,000 tortured.