Hissène Habré

A Muslim from northern Chad, Habré joined FROLINAT rebels in the first Chadian Civil War against the southern-dominated Chadian government. Due to a rift with fellow rebel commander Goukouni Oueddei, Habré and his Armed Forces of the North rebel army briefly defected to Felix Malloum's government against Oueddei before turning against Malloum, who resigned in 1979. Habré was then given the position of Minister of Defense under Chad's new transitional coalition government, with Oueddei as President. Their alliance quickly collapsed, and Habré's forces overthrew Oueddei in 1982.


Having become the country's new president, Habré created a one-party dictatorship ruled by his National Union for Independence and Revolution notorious for widespread human rights abuses. He was brought to power with the support of France and the United States, who provided training, arms, and financing throughout his rule due to his opposition to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.^[3] He led the country during the Libyan-Chadian conflict, culminating in victory during the Toyota War from 1986 to 1987 with French support. He was overthrown three years later in the 1990 Chadian coup d'état by Idriss Déby and fled into exile in Senegal.


In May 2016, Habré was found guilty by an international tribunal in Senegal of human-rights abuses, including rape, sexual slavery, and ordering the killing of 40,000 people, and sentenced to life in prison.^[4] He was the first former head of state to be convicted for human rights abuses in the court of another nation.^[5] He died on 24 August 2021, after testing positive for COVID-19.^[6][7]

Early life[edit]

Habré was born in 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, which is itself a branch of the Toubou ethnic group.^[8] 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. He also obtained several other degrees and earned his Doctorate from the Institute. After a further brief period of government service as a deputy prefect,^[9] he visited Tripoli and joined the National Liberation Front of Chad (FROLINAT) where he became a commander in the Second Liberation Army of FROLINAT along with Goukouni Oueddei. After Abba Siddick assumed the leadership of FROLINAT, the Second Liberation Army, first under Oueddei's command and then under Habré's, split from FROLINAT and became the Command Council of the Armed Forces of the North (CCFAN). In 1976 Oueddei and Habré quarreled and Habré split his newly named Armed Forces of the North (Forces Armées du Nord or FAN) from Goukouni's followers who adopted the name of People's Armed Forces (Forces Armées Populaires or FAP).^[10]


Habré first came to international attention when a group under his command attacked the town of Bardaï in Tibesti, on 21 April 1974, and took three Europeans hostage, with the intention of ransoming them for money and arms. The captives were a German physician, Christoph Staewen (whose wife Elfriede was killed in the attack), and two French citizens, Françoise Claustre, an archeologist, and Marc Combe, a development worker. Staewen was released on 11 June 1974 after significant payments by West German officials.^[11][12][13] Combe escaped in 1975, but despite the intervention of the French Government, Claustre (whose husband was a senior French government official) was not released until 1 February 1977. Habré split with Oueddei, partly over this hostage-taking incident (which became known as the "Claustre affair" in France).^[9]

Rise to power[edit]

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.^{[9]: 27 [14]: 353} However, the power-sharing alliance did not last long. In February 1979 Habré's forces and the national army under Malloum fought in N'Djamena. The fighting effectively left Chad without a national government. Several attempts were made by other nations to resolve the crisis, resulting in a new national government in November 1979 in which Habré was appointed Minister of Defense.^[14]: 353 However, fighting resumed within a matter of weeks. In December 1980 Habré was driven into exile in Sudan.^[14]: 354 In 1982 he resumed his fight against the Chadian government. FAN won control of N'Djamena in June and appointed Habré as head of state.^{[9]: 30, 151}