Belgium Asks Chad to Surrender Former Leader for Crimes Against Humanity

On September 29, 2005, the Belgian Ministry of Justice announced an indictment against Chadian former president Hiss?ne Habr? and issued an extradition warrant and request to Senegalese authorities on September 19, 2005. Belgium issued the arrest warrant on the basis of its law that authorizes prosecution on the basis of universal jurisdiction. It allows prosecutions for crimes against humanity wherever they were committed. Although repealed in July 2003 under U.S. government pressure, the fact that 21 Chadian plaintiffs have Belgian nationality, and the investigation by the Belgian magistrate Daniel Fransen had already started in Chad, the Habr? case proceeded ? [more]