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ABSTRACT
The establishment of the Extraordinary African Chambers to try former Chadian President Hissène Habré has been hailed as a novel form of prosecuting international crimes in Africa. The Court’s establishment marked the end of more than two decades of persistent lobbying by a network of victim associations and civil society organisations – a phenomenon that is referred to here as ‘networked justice’. This article shows that the characteristics of a network often determine the reach and outcomes of networked justice at local and international levels. In the case of the Habré trial, the network’s primary goal of setting an international legal precedent through universal jurisdiction defined the tools and strategies chosen to achieve the goal. This article shows how these dynamics were transposed to the trial against Habré and the reparations phase. The take-up of sexual violence at trial is highlighted as one example of networked justice in action. By returning to Chad, this article considers the potential of reparations as a tool for carrying over effects from an internationalised justice process to the domestic level, and concludes with some observations about the possibilities and limitations of networked justice approaches in stimulating processes of transformation and change at the locations where justice demands originated.
Acknowledgement
I thank Miranda Forsyth, Franck Petit, Lyma Nguyen and two anonymous reviewers for helpful comments.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Notes on contributor
Christoph Sperfeldt is a PhD scholar at the School of Regulation and Global Governance (RegNet), Australian National University. He has also been Deputy Director at the Asian International Justice Initiative, a joint programme of the East-West Center and the WSD Handa Center for Human Rights and International Justice, Stanford University.
Notes
1 Author’s interview with Clement Abaifouta, Dakar, 18 July 2015 (translated from French by the author).
2 Thierry Cruvellier, ‘For Hissène Habré, Trial by Refusal’, New York Times, 27 July 2015.
3 Oliver Windridge, ‘Victims in the Driver’s Seat: The Trial of Hissène Habré’, Justice in Conflict, Blog, 20 July 2015.
4 Thierry Cruvellier, ‘Habré: The Benefits and Fragile Hopes of a New Model’, International Justice Tribune, 31 May 2016.
5 See Margaret Keck and Kathryn Sikkink, Activists beyond Borders: Advocacy Networks in International Politics (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1998); Sanjeev Khagram, James V. Riker, and Kathryn Sikkink, eds., Restructuring World Politics: Transnational Social Movements, Networks, and Norms (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2002).
6 See also Thomas Risse, Stephen Ropp, and Kathryn Sikkink, eds., The Power of Human Rights: International Norms and Domestic Change (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999); Min Tang, ‘Transnational Human Rights Networks’, Political Studies Review 7 (2009): 229–40.
7 Cited from http://johnbraithwaite.com/networked-governance/ (accessed 15 August 2016). See also John Braithwaite, Hilary Charlesworth, and Aderito Soares, Networked Governance of Freedom and Tyranny: Peace in Timor-Leste (Canberra: Australian National University, 2012).
8 Sam Nolutshungu, Limits of Anarchy: Intervention and State Formation in Chad (Charlottesville, University Press of Virginia, 1996).
9 Les Crimes et Détournements de l’ex-Président Habré et de ses Complices, Rapport de la Commission d’Enquête Nationale du Ministère de la Justice (Paris: L’Harmattan, 1993).
10 See for instance Melanie Albaret, ‘Acteurs et Interdépendances dans l’Affaire Hissène Habré’, Etudes internationales 39, no. 4 (2008): 571–4; Konstantinos Magliveras, ‘Fighting Impunity Unsuccessfully in Africa: A Critique of the African Union’s Handling of the Hissène Habré Affair’, African Journal of International and Comparative Law 22, no. 3 (2014): 420–47; Caleb Stevens, ‘Hunting a Dictator as a Transnational Legal Process: The Internationalization Problem and the Hissène Habré Case’, Pace International Law Review 24 (2012): 190–232.
11 For a more detailed discussion, refer to Reed Brody, ‘Victims Bring a Dictator to Justice: The Case of Hissène Habré’, Analysis 70, Brot für die Welt, February 2017.
12 See Julien Seroussi, ‘L’Affaire Hissène Habré: Une Justice Transitionelle Internationalisée’, Mouvements 53 (2008): 131–6.
13 See Albaret, ‘Acteurs et Interdépendances’, 571–4.
14 Human Rights Watch, ‘The Pinochet Precedent: How Victims Can Pursue Human Rights Criminals Abroad’, March 2000, https://www.hrw.org/legacy/campaigns/chile98/precedent.htm (accessed 10 August 2016).
15 So referred to by Reed Brody, the then Advocacy Director at HRW. See Reed Brody, ‘The Prosecution of Hissène Habré – An “African Pinochet”’, New England Law Review 35 (2001): 321–45.
16 Senegal seemed to fulfil the criteria the advocates were looking for: a democratic tradition, a relatively independent judiciary, the first country to ratify the Rome Statute and party to major human rights treaties. See Brody, ‘The Prosecution of Hissène Habré’, 323.
17 The coalition was called the International Committee for the Fair Trial of Hissène Habré and included among others the ATPDH, LTDH and AVCRP from Chad; the Rencontre africaine pour la defense des droits de l’homme (RADDHO) and the Organisation nationale des droits de l’homme (ONDH) from Senegal; FIDH; and HRW. See Brody, ‘The Prosecution of Hissène Habré’, 324.
18 David Bosco, ‘Dictators in the Dock’, The American Prospect, 19 December 2001. http://prospect.org/article/dictators-dock (accessed 15 August 2016).
19 See Human Rights Watch, ‘La Plaine des Morts: Le Tchad de Hissène Habré, 1982–1990’, 2013. https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/chad1013frwebwcover_0.pdf (accessed 6 August 2017).
20 See Marie Gibert, ‘Trial in Senegal of former Chadian President is a Victory for Civil Society’, The Conversation, 21 July 2015.
21 See Dustin Sharp, ‘Prosecutions, Development, and Justice: The Trial of Hissein Habre’, Harvard Human Rights Journal 16 (2003): 148–9.
22 See Stephen Marks, ‘The Hissène Habré Case: The Law and Politics of Universal Jurisdiction’, in Universal Jurisdiction: National Courts and the Prosecution of Serious Crimes under International Law, ed. Stephen Macedo (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2004), 131–67.
23 Pierre Hazan, ‘Habré Trial Sets Precedence As It Closes’, Justice Info, 12 February 2016.
24 Sharp, ‘Prosecutions, Development, and Justice’, 164.
25 The minimal international component in the form of an African Union judge presiding over both the trial and appeals chambers is the result of the ECOWAS court decision, which required some level of internationalisation of the CAE. Refer to Sarah Williams, ‘The Extraordinary African Chambers in the Senegalese Courts: An African Solution to an African Problem?’, Journal of International Criminal Justice 11, no. 5 (2013): 1139–60; Emanuele Cimiotta, ‘The First Steps of the Extraordinary African Chambers: A New Mixed Criminal Tribunal?’, Journal of International Criminal Justice 13, no. 1 (2015): 177–97.
26 See Christoph Sperfeldt, ‘From the Margins of Internationalized Criminal Justice: Lessons Learned at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia’, Journal of International Criminal Justice 11, no. 5 (2013): 1111–37.
27 ‘Statut des Chambres africaines extraordinaires au sein des juridictions sénégalaises pour la poursuite des crimes internationaux commis au Tchad durant la période du 7 juin 1982 au 1er décembre 1990’. http://www.chambresafricaines.org/pdf/Accord%20UA-Senegal%20Chambres%20africaines%20extra%20Aout%202012.pdf (accessed 2 August 2016).
28 See also Thierry Cruvellier, ‘Why the Habré Trial is the Event of the Year’, International Justice Tribune, 15 June 2015.
29 The so-called ‘committee de pilotage’ consists of Senegal, Chad, the African Union, the European Union, France, the US, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxemburg. See http://www.chambresafricaines.org/index.php/administration/le-comité-de-pilotage.html (accessed 31 July 2016).
30 ‘Accord de coopération judiciaire entre la République du Senegal et la République du Tchad pour la poursuite des crimes internationaux commis au Tchad durant la période du 7 juin 1982 au 1 décembre 1990’, 3 May 2013.
31 The names of the other five individuals in the Prosecutor’s request were Saleh Younouss, Mahamat Djibrine, Guihini Koreï, Abakar Torbo and Zakaria Berdeï. See Mbake Fall, ‘The Extraordinary African Chambers: The Case of Hissène Habré’, in Africa and the International Criminal Court, eds. Gerhard Werle, Lovell Fernandez, and Moritz Vormbaum (The Hague: TMC Asser Press, 2014), 117–31.
32 Chambre Africaine Extraordinaire d’Assises, ‘Ministère Public c. Hissein Habré – Jugement’, 30 May 2016, para. 86–87 (hereinafter ‘trial judgment’). http://www.chambresafricaines.org/pdf/Jugement_complet.pdf (accessed 15 August 2016).
33 CAE Prosecutor’s remarks at a press conference in Brussels on 26 May 2015 (author’s notes).
34 See Nathalie Magnien, ‘Chad Officially Refuses to Extradite two EAC Suspects’, International Justice Tribune, 22 October 2014.
35 ‘Ordonnance de non-lieu partiel, de mise en accusation et de renvoi devant la Chambre Africaine Extraordinaire d’assises’, 13 February 2015.
36 See reports from the Extraordinary African Chambers Monitor, http://www.trustafrica.org/en/component/k2/item/3212-the-public-prosecution-versus-habre (accessed 3 August 2016).
37 Trial judgment, para. 116.
38 Franck Petit, ‘Closing Arguments in the Habré Trial’, Justice Hub, Blog, 17 February 2016. https://justicehub.org/article/closing-arguments-habre-trial (accessed 2 August 2016).
39 Trial judgment, para. 536.
40 See Roxane Cassehgari, ‘Reactions to the Conviction of Hissène Habré: A Historic Moment’, International Justice Monitor, Blog, 2 June 2016.
41 Chambre Africaine Extraordinaire d’Assises d’Appel, ‘Le Procurer Général c. Hissein Habré – Arrêt’, 27 April 2017 (hereinafter ‘appeal judgment’), http://www.chambresafricaines.org/pdf/Arrêt_intégral.pdf (accessed 5 May 2017).
42 Franck Petit, ‘Closing Arguments in the Habre Trial’; see also Thierry Cruvellier, ‘The Trial of Hissène Habré’, New York Times, 15 February 2016.
43 See Art. 14 of the CAE Statute. Civil parties may be formed at any time during the investigative stage, and victims may choose to form groups with joint representatives.
44 Author’s interview with international NGO staff, 29 May 2015. The number rose to around 2500 civil parties by May 2015. Many of those had undertaken a ‘proces verbal de constitution de partie civile’ before Chadian local courts or police stations that were then submitted to the CAE.
45 Trial judgment, paras. 66–68.
46 Franck Petit, ‘Closing Arguments in the Habré Trial’.
47 Author’s interview with international NGO staff, 29 May 2015.
48 Reed Brody, ‘Victims Bring a Dictator to Justice’, International Justice Tribune, 15 June 2016.
49 Brody, ‘Victims Bring a Dictator to Justice’, 22–3.
50 See a trial hearing summary at http://www.forumchambresafricaines.org/V1_ficae/summary-before-the-eac-four-women-who-were-deported-to-ouadi-doum-testified-tosexual-abuses/?lang=en (accessed 4 August 2016).
51 See ‘Failing to Prosecute Hissène Habré for Sexual Crimes Would be Missing a Historic Opportunity’, Open Letter to the Extraordinary African Chambers in the Courts of Senegal, 16 October 2015, signed by 17 women’s rights organisations, http://iangel.org/sexual-violence-overlooked-in-case-against-hissene-habre/ (accessed 4 August 2016).
52 The brief requested the judges to amend the charges to account for the sexual violence evidence heard during the trial. See ‘Rape and other Forms of Sexual Violence as Crimes against Humanity, War Crimes, and Torture under Customary International Law’, amicus curiae brief of the Human Rights Center at the University of California Berkeley, School of Law, and international experts on sexual violence under international criminal law, 8 December 2015.
53 Trial judgment, paras. 701–822.
54 UN Women, ‘Statement by UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka on the Conviction of Hissène Habré’, 31 May 2016.
55 Trial judgment, paras. 719–36.
56 Appeal judgment, paras. 417–531.
57 See Silke Studzinsky, ‘Neglected Crimes: The Challenge of Raising Sexual and Gender-Based Crimes before the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia’, in Gender in Transitional Justice, eds. Susanne Buckley-Zistel and Ruth Stanley (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan), 100–13.
58 Reed Brody, ‘Victims Bring a Dictator to Justice’, 2017.
59 See Kim Thuy Seelinger, ‘The Landmark Trial against Dictator Hissène Habré’, Foreign Affairs, 16 June 2016, https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/chad/2016-06-16/landmark-trial-against-dictator-hiss-ne-habr (accessed 20 December 2015).
60 Author’s interview with Clement Abaifouta, Dakar, 18 July 2015.
61 Sharp, ‘Prosecutions, Development, and Justice’, 172–3.
62 Ibid., 176–7.
63 See more at http://www.forumchambresafricaines.org/ (accessed 12 August 2016).
64 Interview with court observer, Brussels, 26 May 2015. The initial two years were extended by another year to cover the conclusion of the trial. See RCN Justice & Démocratie, ‘Le Proces Habré’, Le Bulletin no 48 (July–August 2016): 34–49.
65 See summaries of outreach sessions in Chad available at the consortium’s website at http://www.forumchambresafricaines.org/ (accessed 10 August 2016).
66 Albaret, ‘Acteur et Interdépendances’, 575.
67 Online interview with victim representative, 16 August 2016.
68 Reed Brody, ‘Bringing a Dictator to Justice: The Case of Hissène Habré’, Journal of International Criminal Justice 13, no. 2 (2015): 216–7.
69 See Laura Bingham, ‘Trying for a Just Result? The Hissène Habré Affair and Judicial Independence in Senegal’, Temple International and Comparative Law Journal 23, no. 1 (2009): 77–112.
70 See Albaret, ‘Acteurs et Interdépendances’, 580.
71 ‘Les Crimes et Détournements de l’ex-Président Habré et de ses Complices’, Rapport de la Commission d’Enquête Nationale du Ministère de la Justice (Paris: L’Harmattan, 1993), 98–9.
72 Human Rights Watch, ‘Chad: The Victims of Hissène Habré Still Awaiting Justice’, 17 no. 10(A) (July 2005): 30.
73 Mentioned at HRW’s Q&A on Habré trial at https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/05/03/qa-case-hissene-habre-extraordinary-african-chambers-senegal#17 (accessed 16 August 2016).
74 The Chadian government claimed that Habré stole CFA 7 billion (about EUR 10 million) from the treasury. Nathalie Magnien, ‘Chad Can’t Be a Civil Party in Habré Case, Rules EAC’, International Justice Tribune, 10 September 2014.
75 In 1998, International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda judges rejected requests by the governments of Belgium and Rwanda who sought to make submissions as amicus or plaintiffs in the Bagosora case, with Rwanda specifically seeking restitution of property and assets allegedly taken by the defendant.
76 Trial judgment, para. 81.
77 Affaire Ministere public et Ismael Hachim et autre contre Saleh Younous, Warou Fadoul Ali et Autres, Arret Criminel, Repertoire No. 01/15, 25 March 2015.
78 See Human Rights Watch, ‘Chad: Habre-era Agents Convicted of Torture’, 25 March 2015, https://www.hrw.org/news/2015/03/25/chad-habre-era-agents-convicted-torture (accessed 5 August 2016).
79 Affaire Ministere public et Ismael Hachim et autre contre Saleh Younous, Warou Fadoul Ali et Autres, Arret Criminel, Repertoire No. 01/15, 25 March 2015.
80 See Human Rights Watch, ‘Tchad: Le gouvernement n’a toujours pas indemnise les victimes du régime de Hissène Habré’, 24 March 2016, https://www.hrw.org/fr/news/2016/03/24/tchad-le-gouvernement-na-toujours-pas-indemnise-les-victimes-du-regime-de-hissene (accessed 4 August 2016).
81 CAE Statute, Art. 27 (1) and (2).
82 CAE Statute, Art. 28 (1) and (2), stipulating that ‘the Trust Fund shall be financed by voluntary contributions’, and providing further that ‘reparations shall be open to all victims, individually or collectively, whether or not they participated in the proceedings before the Extraordinary African Chambers’.
83 Trial judgment, para. 117.
84 Interview with civil party lawyer, Dakar, 21 July 2015.
85 See also REDRESS, ‘Time to Repair the Harm to the Victims of the Habré’s Regime’, press release, 30 May 2016.
86 Telephone interview with court observer, 21 March 2016.
87 Civil judgment rendered on 29 July 2016, provided later as an annex to the criminal trial judgment, para. 2–3, 26 (hereinafter ‘civil judgment’).
88 Ibid., para. 8–11.
89 Ibid., para. 19.
90 Ibid., para. 26.
91 Ibid., para. 27–31.
92 The civil judgment only referred to a set of annexes with the names of various civil parties. See Civil judgment, para. 43–53, and annexes 1–7.
93 Appeal judgment, 226.
94 Civil judgment, para. 59–68.
95 Appeal judgment, para. 938–9.
96 Ibid., para. 607–10.
97 Various media reports and observers estimated the value of the property at around EUR 700,000. Author’s interview with international NGO staff, 29 May 2015.
98 Although this might begin to change following the ICC appeals judgment in the case against Thomas Lubanga. See Carsten Stahn, ‘Reparative Justice after the Lubanga Appeal Judgment’, Journal of International Criminal Justice 13, no. 4 (2015): 801–13.
99 Civil judgment, para. 69–71.
100 Ibid., para. 75–6.
101 The written response from the Chadian Ministry of Justice was received only a few weeks before the pronouncement of the appeal judgment. Appeal judgment, para. 843, 838–47.
102 See ECCC appeals judgment in Case 001 and discussion in Christoph Sperfeldt, ‘Collective Reparations at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia’, International Criminal Law Review 12 (2012): 457–89.
103 In resolution Assembly/AU/Dec.615 (XXVII), adopted at the AU summit in Kigali in July 2016, the African Union decided to establish a trust fund and to organise a donor conference to solicit voluntary contributions.
104 Cited from ‘Analysis and Recommendations after the Last Outreach Tour in Chad’, http://forumchambresafricaines.org/analysis-and-recommendations-after-the-last-outreach-tour-in-chad/?lang=en (accessed 18 January 2017).
105 Williams, ‘The Extraordinary African Chambers in the Senegalese Courts’, 1140.
106 Sofie Høgestøl, ‘The Habre Judgment at the Extraordinary African Chambers: A Singular Victory in the Fight against Impunity’, Nordic Journal of Human Rights 34, no. 3 (2016): 147–56.
107 Sharp, ‘Prosecutions, Development, and Justice’, 176.
108 See also Windridge, ‘Victims in the Driver’s Seat’.
109 Similarly, see Sharp, ‘Prosecutions, Development, and Justice’, 151.