Chad's human rights record attacked

The human rights organisation, Amnesty International, has strongly criticised the government of Chad for what it says is the continuation of serious human rights abuses.

In a 50-page report it says violations begun by the former dictator, Hissene Habre. persist and that early hopes of much better conditions under the current Chadian President, Idriss Deby, remain unfulfilled.

Amnesty urged the government to work with campaigners trying to bring to justice Mr Habre, who currently lives in Senegal .

Amnesty says it has catalogued thousands of human rights violations, including extra-judicial killings and torture, perpetrated during Mr Habre's time in office in the 1980s.

Amnesty said the crimes were carried out with the complicity of foreign countries, especially France and the United States, which armed, financed, and trained the Chadian security forces. {NET HEADLINE: Chad criticised for rights violations} {SOURCES: AFP, French service} {16/10/2001 19:19:29 Mark Pivac }