The duty to remember

This 58-year-old lawyer’s tireless work led a court in Brussels, Belgium to indict Chad’s former dictator Hissène Habré for crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide by virtue of the universal jurisdiction principle. Ms. Moudeïna coordinated the collective of lawyers and victims for the trial, which took place in Dakar after Mr. Habré was arrested in Senegal, where he had been living 22 years in exile. In 2004, she became president of the Association tchadienne pour la promotion et la défense des droits de l’homme (Chad’s Association for the Promotion and Defence of Human Rights, ATPDH), which receives support from Human Rights Watch. In her view, the trial, which should have started in July but, after several postponements, did not begin until November, “will help everybody, all of Africa”. This ?  ery activist also focuses on the rights of women, children and minorities who are victims of discrimination, and campaigns to protect the environment from oil companies. Although she was seriously injured during a 2001 demonstration and is constantly being slandered and threatened, Ms. Moudeïna has lost none of her courage and is still hard at work being “the voice of the voiceless and orphans.”