Tenacity, Perseverance, and Imagination in the ‘Private International Prosecution’ of Hissène Habré

This chapter focuses on Human Rights Watch’s strategy, challenges, the role played by civil society, and the strokes of fate that accompanied the twenty-year effort to convict Hissène Habré. The Habré trial was the fruit of what has been called ‘one of the world's most patient and tenacious campaigns for justice’. This campaign was waged over two decades by Habré's victims and their supporters, who improbably succeeded in creating the political conditions to bring a former African president to justice in Africa, with the support of the African Union. The victims' coalition ‘essentially served the case to the EAC on a silver platter’, determining the contours of the prosecution and dictating the nature of the trial itself, thereby contributing to its emancipatory impact. Ultimately, the Habré case shows how a ‘private international prosecution’ can allow victims to achieve criminal justice on their own terms.