In the past quarter efforts to bring to justice Hissène Habré-the Chadian dictator toppled by the president, Idriss Déby, in a coup in 1990-for alleged human rights abuses have been set back yet again. Mr Habré, who has been living in exile in Senegal since 2000, is accused of crimes against humanity and torture during his eight years in power. Although no figure has ever been independently verified, campaigners allege that he is responsible for the deaths of up to 40,000 people while in power. Following a decision in November by the court of justice of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) that the Senegalese judicial system still did not have the capacity to conduct such a trial, in February the Senegalese president, Abdoulaye Wade, announced definitively that the former dictator would not be tried in Senegal. This marks an about-turn from his decision in 2006 to allow the trial of Mr Habré to go ahead in Senegal "in the name of Africa". Mr Wade also put paid to attempts to try Mr Habré in Belgium, where courts assert universal jurisdiction in human rights matters, by stating that he would refuse to extradite him there, although extradition to another member country of the African Union remains a possibility.

Mr Wade's intransigence is a blow for the relatives of Mr Habré's alleged victims seeking justice. It also undermines efforts, both within Africa and beyond, to hold trials of the continent's leaders suspected of wrongdoing in Africa, which, it is argued, would give the processes greater legitimacy. The Senegalese president's decision may be an attempt to call the bluff of the foreign powers keen to see a trial, which, despite pledging millions of dollars for the process, have refused to accede fully to his extravagant demands for funding. However, a different political calculation may mean that his announcement that a trial will not take place was made in earnest. Mr Habré is believed to receive protection from Senegal's powerful Muslim Brotherhoods, upon whose political support Mr Wade depends.