Covering events from January-December 2001

Republic of Senegal
Head of state: Abdoulaye Wade
Head of government: Mame Madior Boye (replaced Moustapha Niasse in March)
Capital: Dakar
Population: 9.7 million
Official language: French
Death penalty: abolitionist in practice

Despite two peace agreements and a notable reduction in the level of human rights violations committed by the security forces in the disputed region of Casamance, unrest and fighting did not stop. Abuses against civilians by armed opposition forces in Casamance continued throughout the year, particularly against people with "non-Casamance" names. Although the government made a commitment that past human rights violations by the military would be investigated, no inquiry had been set up by the end of 2001. The government also agreed to consider any future request for extradition from Senegal of the former President of Chad on charges of crimes against humanity.

Background

There was a notable reduction in reports of extrajudicial executions, "disappearances" and torture by the security forces as compared to the period before the present government came to power in April 2000.


President Wade's Parti démocratique sénégalais, Senegalese Democratic Party, won an outright victory in the April legislative elections.

Deliberate and arbitrary killings by the MFDC

Alleged members of one of the MFDC's armed wings launched several attacks against civilians during the year. The two most serious incidents took place in February and March when 20 unarmed civilians were shot dead after reportedly being identified by their "non-Casamance" names.

  • On 16 February, 20 alleged members of the MFDC attacked a group of hauliers near Niahoump, some 70km northeast of the regional capital, Ziguinchor. They checked the identity cards of the truckers and shot dead all those with "non-Casamance" names. Thirteen people died immediately and another person died in hospital.
Prisoners of conscience

In March President Wade asked the judicial authorities to release all detainees held in connection with the Casamance conflict. Sixteen people were released in Kolda, Casamance, but several others remained in detention at the end of the year. Most had been held for months or years without trial.
  • Michel Pereira, one of the last three Casamance detainees still held at the Rebeuss prison in Dakar, was believed to be suffering from mental illness. He had been held without trial since 1997, accused of threatening state security. Despite repeated requests and appeals, he remained in prison at the end of 2001.
Threats to freedom of expression

Journalists continued to be harassed and intimidated.
  • In July, Alioune Fall, editor of the newspaper Le Matin, was detained for one day by the police Division des investigations criminelles, Division of Criminal Investigations, for publishing an article written by one of his journalists about escapes by several prisoners and discontent within the police force because the investigation into the incident was assigned to the gendarmerie rather than the police. In August, he was charged with "publishing false information", but no trial had taken place by the end of 2001.
  • In August, Alioune Tine, head of the human rights organization Rencontre africaine pour la défense des droits de l'homme (RADDHO), African Human Rights Rally, was briefly detained for interrogation after declaring publicly that President Wade's view that reparations for slavery would be "absurd and insulting" was "scandalous and inopportune". Three days later, President Wade received Alioune Tine and said that his brief detention was a "mistake".
Impunity

Despite formal commitments by the authorities, no investigations were initiated in 2001 into past human rights violations.
  • In January, student Balla Gaye was shot dead in clashes between demonstrators and the police near the University of Dakar. President Wade immediately ordered an investigation which concluded in November that the police may have been responsible for this death. A policeman was subsequently charged and detained.
Hissein Habré

In September, President Wade publicly announced his readiness to hand over former Chadian President Hissein Habré to stand trial in a third country for gross human rights abuses. This statement was a welcome contrast to a statement made by the President in April – following a Court of Cassation decision in March that the Senegalese courts had no jurisdiction to try him – that Hissein Habré had one month to leave Senegal. (See Chad entry.)

AI country reports/visits

Visits

In June an AI delegation visited Senegal and met President Wade and Father Diamacoune Senghor, then Secretary General of the MFDC. In August, AI held its biennial International Council Meeting in Senegal. In November, AI organized a human rights workshop in Dakar with victims of torture and relatives of people who "disappeared" in Casamance.

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