The former president of Chad, Hissène Habré returned to prison in Senegal on Sunday after spending two months out of the facility.
Hissene Habre gained that two month prison leave due to current coronavirus outbreak.
His detention centre was used to hold new detainees in coronavirus quarantine.
That meant that Habre had to be granted leave from prison for some weeks for the pandemic to ease.
Habre’s lawyers requested 60 days leave for him because he was “particularly vulnerable” to coronavirus.
He was confined to his home in Ouakam, a district of Senegal’s capital, Dakar in order to protect him from coronavirus during the leave period.
With Senegal now easing some of its Covid-19 restrictions and reopening the country, Habre now in his late 70s had to return to the detention centre.
The former Chad leader has been serving his life prison term in Senegal prison for crimes against humanity after his conviction in 2016.
He was convicted of rape, sexual slavery and ordering killings during his rule from 1982 to 1990.
At least 40,000 people are estimated to have been killed while he was in power.
Lawyer of Habre’s victims said in a statement on Sunday that “no one wants to see Habre himself unprotected,” despite atrocities committed under his rule.
Reed Brody however said “let’s remember that Habre was convicted of mass murder. It would be a slap in the face to his victims for him to receive special treatment”.
Habre’s conviction was the first time an African Union-backed court tried a former ruler for human rights abuses.
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Source: Africafeeds.com
