To Catch a Dictator, Reed Brody
To Catch a Dictator, Reed Brody
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To Catch a Dictator
The Pursuit and Trial of Hissène Habré

Author: Reed Brody

Narrator: Reed Brody

Unabridged: 9 hr 44 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 01/30/2024


Synopsis

What does it take to make a dictator answer for his crimes? Hissène Habré, the former despot of Chad, terrorized, tortured, and killed on a horrific scale over eight years in power—while enjoying full American and Western support. After Habré’s overthrow, his victims and their supporters were determined to see him held responsible for his atrocities. Their quest for justice would be long, tense, and unnerving, but they would not back down.

To Catch a Dictator is an insider's account of the hunt for Habré and his momentous trial. The human rights lawyer Reed Brody recounts how he and an international team of investigators, legal experts, and victims worked across three continents to unearth evidence and witnesses, petition courts and skeptical governments, and rally public opinion. They faced many obstacles and constant threats. Habré fought back bitterly, drawing on secret bank accounts and extensive political connections to preserve his life of luxurious exile. Yet Brody and his allies ultimately triumphed: Habré became the first former head of state to be convicted of crimes against humanity in the courts of another country. This fast-paced, suspenseful book shows that there is nothing inevitable about the impunity that too often protects the powerful and that even the worst tyrants can be brought to justice.

About Reed Brody

Reed Brody worked for eighteen years alongside Hissene Habre's victims on behalf of Human Rights Watch. He has helped pursue Augusto Pinochet of Chile, Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier of Haiti, and Yahya Jammeh of the Gambia. He also uncovered atrocities by United States-backed Contras in Nicaragua, led United Nations missions in El Salvador and the Congo, and exposed Bush-administration torture.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Janalyn

Hisse ne Habre was known as the butcher of Chad. He ran the country like a dictator or a king even to heaven dungeons where they practice medieval torture. He was guilty of rape, murder, burning down whole villages and all for his own nasty greed. The best part is he thought he would get away with i......more

Goodreads review by Jodesz

“The world leaders of the 2020s are not going to make it easy for victims and the activists supporting them to seek redress for what they have suffered. Then again, history is about more than what the ‘big men’ do. As Salvador Allende said in his last radio address, when Pinochet’s forces were alrea......more

Goodreads review by Lachlan

I am grateful to NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. This book describes the efforts to bring Chad's former dictator, Hissène Habré, to justice for brutal crimes against his own people in the 1980s. Ousted from Chad following a coup in 1990, Habré t......more

Goodreads review by Andrés

There will always be people who, with good or less good reasons, resist innovative approaches to transitional justice that weigh and therefore privilege some outcomes over others in order to respond to the victims of mass atrocities. I see it in my country, Colombia, every day. But they forget that t......more

Goodreads review by Andre

Una impresionante travesía sobre el juicio de Hissène Habré desde el momento en el que un equipo decidió perseguirlo hasta que fue condenado. El libro te narra lo difícil que fue enjuiciar a un exdirigente por crímenes de lesa humanidad y las muchas batallas mediáticas, políticas y legales que tuvie......more