(New York)- Human Rights Watch today hailed the announcement that Jacqueline Moudeïna, a lawyer from Chad who was almost killed because of her work on behalf of torture victims, had received the prestigious Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders. The award is presented yearly by ten of the world's leading human rights organizations.
Ms Moudeïna is the lawyer for the victims of the exiled former dictator of Chad, Hissène Habré. In February 2000, a Senegalese court indicted Habré on charges of torture and crimes against humanity, and placed him under house arrest. It was the first time that an African had been charged with atrocities by the court of another African country. In March 2001, however, Senegal's Court of Final Appeals ruled that Habré could not be tried in Senegal for crimes allegedly committed in Chad. The victims are now seeking Habré's extradition to stand trial in Belgium, and Senegal has accepted a United Nations request not to let Habré leave Senegal except via extradition. This month, the Chadian government announced that a Belgian judge would be able to visit Chad to interview witnesses and gather evidence against Habré.
In the meantime, Ms Moudeïna took an enormous personal risk by filing criminal complaints in Chad itself against a number of Habré's accomplices, including the heads of Habré's political police, the dreaded DDS, many of whom are still in positions of power in Chad. She had already received a number of threats when, on June 11, 2001, a security squad, led by Mahamat Wakayé, one of the men she is suing, threw a grenade at her while she was participating in a peaceful demonstration to protest the conduct of the Chadian presidential elections. Ms Moudeïna was severely injured from the shrapnel and still walks on crutches seven months later. Several others were injured as well. The security forces also apparently fired on the car that was driving the injured Ms Moudeïna away from the scene. The government has not arrested anyone for the attack.
"Jacky Moudeïna's work is a direct challenge to the continuing power of those who terrorized Chad in the Habré years," said Reed Brody, Advocacy Director of Human Rights Watch, who coordinates the international case against Habré. "Her determination to stand up for torture victims at great personal sacrifice is a shining example to us all."
Brody again called on the Chadian government to bring Ms Moudeïna's attackers to justice. In a letter to Chadian President Idriss Déby prior to the attack, Human Rights Watch and the International Federation for Human Rights had requested the Chadian government to prevent ex-DDS agents still in official positions from interfering with the torture cases Ms. Moudeïna had filed.
The Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders (MEA) is presented jointly by Amnesty International, Defense for Children, German Diakona, Human Rights Watch, HURIDOCS, International Alert, the International Commission of Jurists, the International Federation for Human Rights, the International Service for Human Rights and the World Organization Against Torture. Created in 1993, it is granted annually to an individual or an organization who has displayed exceptional courage in combating human rights violations. The previous recipients of the MEA have been: Peace Brigades International (2001), Immaculée Birhaheka, DRC; Natasa Kandic, Yugoslavia; Eyad El Sarraj, Palestine; Samuel Ruiz Garcia, Mexico; Clement Nwankwo, Nigeria; Asma Jahangir, Pakistan; Harry Wu, China (1994).
Martin Ennals (1927-1991) was instrumental to the modern human rights movement. A fiercely devoted activist, he creatively pursued ideas ahead of his time as the first Secretary-General of Amnesty International and the driving force behind many other organizations.
The ceremony takes place in Geneva on 11 April 2002. For further details on the Martin Ennals Award, please call the Secretariat of the Martin Ennals Foundation, Geneva, Switzerland, + 41 22 755 5252, e-mail info@huridocs.org Website: www.martinennalsaward.org
