3. Hissene Habre, Chad (1982-1990)
Hissene Habre. Photo credit: BBC
Former Chadian President Hissene Habre was born in 1942 in Faya-Largeau, French Equatorial Africa, and rose to power after he successfully toppled Gen. Felix Malloum in 1982 with the help of France and the United States who provided him with training, arms, and finances.
His eight-year reign was characterized by some of the worst atrocities, including political assassinations, torture, rape, and extrajudicial killings. He was deposed by the current President of Chad, Idriss Deby, in 1990.
In 2012, the United Nation’s International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordered Senegal, where he had sought refuge, to prosecute him or extradite him to face justice overseas.
In May 2016, the Extraordinary African Chambers at Special Court in Senegal found Habre guilty of rape, sexual slavery, and ordering the killing of 40,000 people during his reign and sentenced him to life in prison.
