Convention against Torture which came into force on 22 June 2006. Incidentally, the contents of laws on torture overlap with the relevant provisions of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) which is also taken into account in a series of laws passed on 12 February 2007 to ensure their effective application in Senegal. By the way, Senegal is the first country in the world to have ratified it on 1st February 1999, after having actively supported this body through a large-scale campaign for signatures and ratifications among African countries and also paid a voluntary contribution of fifty (50) million CFA francs into the Fund of the International Criminal Court in support of victims. (2) The Hissene Habré Case 169. The overarching expression of the Senegalese authorities’ commitment to comply with their treaty obligations on torture is the establishment of a Special Court, dubbed the Extraordinary African Chambers58 to try the former President of Chad, Mr. Hissene Habré for crimes of torture he is alleged to have committed while he was at the helm of affairs in that country from 1982 to 1990. 170. Former President of Chad, Mr. Hissene Habré is accused of having committed unspeakable atrocities during his reign and for which thousands of persons were tortured and/or executed especially by his political police, the infamous Documentation and Security Directorate (DDS). 171. As a refugee in Senegal after being overthrown in a coup d’état in 1990, Mr. Habré was indicted in 2000 in Senegal as a result of complaints filed by Chadian victims pursuant to the relevant provisions of the Convention against Torture but the Senegalese courts declared that they were not competent to try him on the grounds that « no procedural text confers on Senegalese courts a universal jurisdiction to prosecute and judge, if the presumed perpetrators of or accomplices in acts (of torture) are found on the territory of the Republic, …where such acts were committed outside Senegal by foreigners ; that the presence of Hissene Habré in Senegal should not in itself be a justification to bring legal proceedings against him59». 172. The courts even indicate that « Article 79 of the Constitution (which stipulates that international treaties are directly applicable in the national legal system of Senegal and therefore can directly be invoked in national courts) cannot be applied as the execution of the Convention requires that Senegal takes prior legislative measures » and that « no amendment of Article 669 of the Criminal Procedure Code (which cites cases for which legal action can be 58 Cf. Law No 2012-29 of 19 December 2012 on the Statute of Extraordinary African Chambers within Senegalese Courts for the prosecution of international crimes committed in Chad during the period from 7 June 1982 to 1st December 1990. 59 Cf. The Court of Cassation of Senegal, Order No 14 of 20 March 2001, Souleymane Guengueng and others vs. Hissene Habré. 40