Chad's former President Hissene Habre found guilty of crimes against humanity

Hissene Habre.
(Image credit: AFP/Getty Images)

The former president of Chad, Hissene Habre, was sentenced to life in prison Monday for war crimes, crimes against humanity, rape, forced sexual slavery, and kidnapping.

He served as president from 1982 to 1990, and during that time 40,000 people were killed and thousands more kidnapped, raped, and tortured. The 73-year-old's case was heard by a special tribunal organized by the African Union, under a deal with Senegal, and it was the first time one country prosecuted a former head of another country for rights abuses, Agence France-Presse reports. Over the course of the 10-month trial, Habre refused to address the court, and never recognized its authority. He has two weeks to appeal the sentence.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.