A CRIMINAL court in Senegal has dismissed a case against the former president of Chad, Hissene Habre, who faced charges of complicity in torture and crimes against humanity. Habre has been in exile in Senegal since being overthrown in a coup 10 years ago. Early this year, seven human rights groups filed a criminal complaint against him – the first attempt to try an African ruler in a foreign country for abuses committed at home. They accused him of being behind the torture and execution of tens of thousands of people during his rule in Chad between 1982 and 1990. Habre was formally charged in February, in a case that was compared with that of General Augusto Pinochet – the former Chilean dictator who was detained in the UK after Spain applied for his extradition to answer charges relating to acts of torture committed in Chile. Defence lawyers argued that, because Mr Habre’s alleged crimes were committed outside Senegal, he could not be tried by its courts.