Vermont Conversation: ‘Dictator Hunter’ Reed Brody on his global quest to bring tyrants to justice

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Worldwide human rights lawyer Reed Brody has been dubbed the “Dictator Hunter.” He has helped pursue and convey to justice infamous dictators together with Augusto Pinochet of Chile, Jean-Claude “Child Doc” Duvalier of Haiti and Yahya Jammeh of Gambia.

One dictator grew to become a particular focus of Brody’s world pursuit of justice. Hissène Habré was the previous despot who dominated Chad from 1982 till he was deposed in 1990. Habré met with then-President Ronald Reagan and was armed and backed by the U.S. Habré, who was dubbed “Africa’s Pinochet,” was accused of ordering the killing of 40,000 individuals and the torture of 200,000 individuals throughout his reign of terror.

“The saying was once that for those who kill one particular person, you go to jail; for those who kill 40 individuals, you’re put in an insane asylum; however for those who kill 40,000 individuals, you get a protected haven and a fats checking account within the nation of your selecting,” Brody wrote.

For 16 years, Reed Brody led a staff of investigators, legal professionals and victims that spanned three continents as they pursued Habré. This world hunt culminated in Habré’s trial in Senegal in 2016. Habré grew to become the primary former head of state to be convicted of crimes towards humanity within the courts of one other nation. The dictator, who had lived in seaside luxurious in Senegal for 25 years, was sentenced to life in jail. Habré died of Covid-19 throughout his imprisonment in August 2021.

Brody recounts his world quest for justice in his new ebook, “To Catch a Dictator: The Pursuit and Trial Of Hissène Habré.”

Brody argues that the precedent of holding dictators like Habré and Pinochet to account may also be utilized to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who’s accused of committing conflict crimes in Ukraine. 

However pursuing tyrants requires endurance. 

“Even assuming that he is indicted for conflict crimes or for aggression by a particular tribunal, which is being mentioned, until there is a radical change in Russia, no one goes to return in and arrest Vladimir Putin,” Brody stated. “That stated, these indictments will dangle over his head all his life. And we see in different circumstances like Cambodia and elsewhere that you could be not prosecute someone immediately or in 10 years, however perhaps 20 years or 30 years.”

Brody is crucial of the double commonplace in worldwide regulation, the place human rights abuses by western leaders go unpunished. 

“I spent a very long time documenting crimes dedicated towards prisoners in the course of the so known as Struggle on Terror in Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib, secret prisons,” he stated. “George Bush, president of america licensed torture. He licensed waterboarding … There has by no means been accountability for that.” 

Brody has seen the rise and fall of dictators around the globe. He is aware of the fragility of democracy. 

“I’m very frightened about democracy within the U.S.,” he stated. “It’ll require all of our organizing … to protect or at the very least to reconquer our establishments.”