Former Chadian dictator Hissene Habre has been sentenced to life in prison for war crimes, crimes against humanity and a litany of other charges, including rape.
The verdict brings a long-awaited reckoning to families of the up to 40,000 people killed and the many kidnapped, raped or tortured under his 1982-1990 rule as president of Chad.
Habre's trial by the Extraordinary African Chambers is the first in which the courts of one country are prosecuting the former ruler of another for alleged human rights crimes.
Victims groups who had travelled to Dakar to hear the verdict were visibly moved by a judgement that comes a quarter century after the abuses they suffered.
'Hissene Habre, this court finds you guilty of crimes against humanity, rape, forced slavery, and kidnapping,' as well as war crimes, said Gberdao Gustave Kam, Burkinabe president of the Extraordinary African Chambers (CAE) court.
'The court condemns you to life in prison,' Kam added, giving Habre 15 days to appeal the sentence.
Habre raised his arms into the air on hearing the verdict, shouting 'Down with France-afrique!' referring to the term used for France's continuing influence on its former colonies.

'This verdict sends a powerful message that the days when tyrants could brutalise their people, pillage their treasury and escape abroad to a life of luxury are coming to an end,' Reed said in a statement.
'Today will be carved into history as the day that a band of unrelenting survivors brought their dictator to justice.'
Known as a skilled desert warrior often in combat fatigues to fit the role, Habre fled to Senegal after his 1990 ouster by Chad's current President Idriss Deby.
Witnesses recounted the horror of life in Chad's prisons, describing in graphic detail abusive and often deadly punishments inflicted by Habre's feared secret police, the Documentation and Security Directorate (DDS).
Victims were subject to electric shocks and waterboarding while some had gas sprayed in their eyes or spice rubbed into their genitals, the court heard.


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