Evidence presented against Chad's Habre

DAKAR, Senegal, Sept. 16 (UPI) -- Human rights activists asking Senegal to move forward with a case against former Chadian dictator Hissene Habre have presented evidence of alleged war crimes.

A coalition of African and international groups Tuesday filed new complaints with Senegalese officials against Habre, who ruled Chad in the 1980s and is living under house arrest in Dakar. In the complaints, 14 alleged torture victims say they were arrested and abused by the country's secret police.

The group Human Rights Watch says it has evidence to prove that Habre was intimately involved in the day-to-day actions of the secret police. He has been implicated the deaths of more than 40,000 Chadians during his rule of the country from 1982 to 1990, when he was deposed and fled to Senegal.

"We are asking Senegal finally to let us have our day in court," said Clement Abaifouta, president of the Chadian Association of Victims of Political Repression and Crime, who as a prisoner was forced to dig graves for more than 500 fellow inmates. "This is our last hope. We have been fighting for 18 years to bring Habre to justice, and most of the survivors have already died."