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Colonel Abdi Aden Magan, the defendant, was a member of the Marehan sub-clan of the Darod clan and held high positions (as Colonel and Chief) at the National Security Service (NSS) of Somalia. The plaintiff, Abukar Hassan Ahmed, was a human rights attorney and law professor at the Somali National University. He was detained at the NSS for approximately three months. During his detention, he suffered severe physical and psychological injuries.  Ahmed claimed that, as a Chief of NSS Investigations, Colonel Magan was responsible for ordering and participating in his interrogation and torture.

Following the death of Rwandan President Habyariamana in April 1994, a series of large scale attacks were launched against the Tutsi population in Rwanda by members of the governing party, the Rwandan Armed Forces, the Interahamwe and civilian militias. In particular, two attacks were launched against Tutsi men, women and children seeking refuge at the Kiziguro and Mukarange parishes. The assailants proceeded to kill thousands of Tutsis and buried their bodies in mass graves.

The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in the present case found that the Accused, Jean-Baptise Gatete, a former mayor, issued instructions to the assailants of these two attacks directing them to kill Tutsis. He additionally provided material support by distributing weapons amongst the assailants. The Tribunal convicted the Accused of genocide and extermination as a crime against humanity and sentenced him to life imprisonment.

Hissène Habré, currently a resident of Senegal, was the President of the Republic of Chad from 1982 until 1990. During that time, he established a brutal dictatorship which, by the bias of its political police, the Bureau of Documentation and Security (Direction de la Documentation et de la Sécurité (DDS)) caused the deaths of tens of thousands of individuals.

Proceedings have commenced and failed against him in the Republic of Chad, Senegal, and most recently in Belgium. The latter State issued an international arrest warrant for Habré in 2005 for charges of crimes against humanity, war crimes, torture and serious violations of international humanitarian law. The request was never complied with; the Court of Appeal of Dakar in Senegal held that Habré enjoyed immunity and it was incompetent to rule on the validity of the arrest warrant for a former Head of State. Belgium instituted proceedings before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) alleging that Senegal was in violation of its obligation to prosecute or extradite Habré under the Convention Against Torture.

The present decision by the ICJ is the culmination of these proceedings. In its decision, the ICJ ruled that Senegal was indeed in breach of its obligations under the Convention and should proceed without further delay to the prosecution of Habré. It cannot rely on its internal law or financial difficulties to evade the implementation of this obligation.