Chad

Hissène Habré's rule over the former French colony of Chad from 1982 to 1990 was marked by numerous and credible allegations of systematic torture and crimes against humanity. On September 27, 2005 a Belgian judge issued an international arrest warrant charging Hissène Habré with atrocities during his 1982-90 rule.

Since July 2002, HRDAG has been working with Human Rights Watch (HRW) to analyze thousands of documents belonging to the former secret police (the "Documentation and Security Directorate," DDS). The documents contain detailed accounts of the interrogations, movements, and deaths of prisoners, as well as information on the internal functioning of the DDS. In order to facilitate rigorous qualitative and quantitative analysis of this important evidence, HRDAG developed a Document Mapper database that cross-references individuals and institutions cited in the DDS documents.

In November 2003, HRDAG team members Miguel Cruz, Kristen Cibelli, and Jana Dudukovic conducted a preliminary analysis of available DDS documents entitled Preliminary Statistical Analysis of AVCRP & DDS Documents - A report to Human Rights Watch about Chad under the government of Hissène Habré, November 4, 2003 (Adobe Acrobat PDF format, 151kB). This analysis found that detainees within the DDS prisons were at least 16 times more likely to die than the general public. This mortality analysis drew on both the DDS's own administrative records and victim-based testimonies. The report was given to the Belgian judge to inform his preparation of the indictment.

In early July 2005, HRDAG team members Romesh Silva and Scott Weikart contributed statistical analysis to a Human Rights Watch Report "Chad: The Victims of Hissène Habré Still Awaiting Justice." HRDAG's analysis presented new descriptive statistical analysis about the pattern of detention and deaths-in-detention which had been documented in official records of the DDS. This analysis found that:

• A total of 12,321 different victims were mentioned in the recovered administrative documents from the DDS. These victims were mentioned 39,981 times in 1,941 different documents.
• 93.5% (37,371/39,981) of the transcribed victim names appeared in documents which originated from the DDS itself.
• In the DDS documents retrieved by HRW, Hissène Habré received 1,265 direct communications from the DDS about the status of 898 detainees, 33.3% (296/898) of these victims were mentioned in multiple separate communications to Habré.

HRDAG's database and statistical work also contributed to the presentation of evidence against 41 of the highest-ranking former agents of the DDS. In response to this report, on August 11th the Prime-Minister of Chad declared that it will remove all current officials who served as DDS agents under for dictator Hissène Habré, from their official duties. At the same time, the Chadian government announced its intentions to provide compensation and to erect a monument to honor the memory of the victims of political repression under Habré's dictatorship. A victory for good science, technology, and human rights!

As part of this ongoing effort, HRDAG has been invited to extend its analysis further to strengthen the prosecution's case against Habré and raise international awareness about the case. In response to this invitation, HRDAG is currently developing a in-depth statistical report on evidence of crimes of policy by Habré's administration. This report will use the administrative records recovered from the former DDS headquarters to assess the superior-subordinate relationships within the DDS bureaucracy, the extent of knowledge which Habré and senior DDS officials had of serious human rights abuses within he DDS and their failure to act in accordance with international human rights norms. This report will be released jointly by HRDAG and HRW in October, 2005.

Originally based at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), HRDAG has provided technical assistance in the following countries:

Africa

• Chad
• Ghana
• Liberia
• Sierra Leone
• South Africa

Asia

• Afghanistan
• Bangladesh
• Cambodia
• Timor-Leste
• Sri Lanka

Europe

• Kosovo

Middle East

• Iran

Central America and Caribbean

• El Salvador
• Guatemala
• Haiti
• México

South America

• Colombia
• Perú

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The Human Rights Data Analysis Group (HRDAG) applies information technology solutions and statistical techniques to help human rights advocates build evidence-based arguments.