The Trial against Hissène Habré: Networked Justice and Reparations at the Extraordinary African Chambers

Abstract

The establishment of the Extraordinary African Chambers to try former Chadian President Hissène Habré has been hailed as a novel form of prosecuting international crimes in Africa. The Court’s establishment marked the end of more than two decades of persistent lobbying by a network of victim associations and civil society organisations – a phenomenon that is referred to here as ‘networked justice’. This article shows that the characteristics of a network often determine the reach and outcomes of networked justice at local and international levels. In the case of the Habré trial, the network’s primary goal of setting an international legal precedent through universal jurisdiction defined the ..