Parliament approved the changes on Wednesday, effectively giving Senegal one of the world's strongest laws for prosecuting such crimes, human rights activists said.
"With the reform there is no longer a statute of limitations" for such crimes, Ndiaye said. The law still has to be signed by Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade before it is finalised.
Following the vote Wednesday Senegal's Justice Minister Madicke Niang said that his country was ready for Habre's trial, but Dakar is still appealing for funds to set it up.
Habre has lived in Senegal since 1991. He was toppled from power in 1990 after an eight-year reign when thousands of Chadians were allegedly tortured.
An official truth commission report in 1992 accused Habre's regime of committing some 40,000 political murders -- of which only 4,000 victims have been officially named.
In July last year Senegal agreed to an African Union call to put Habre on trial. Human rights groups have complained that Dakar is dragging its feet.
"Senegal now has one of the world's strongest laws for prosecuting atrocities," Reed Brody, counsel for Human Rights Watch who works with Habre's victims, said in a statement.
"Now it's time to get down to business and start investigating Habre's alleged crimes so that, after 18 years, his victims can finally see justice done."
In May Senegal appointed a judge to coordinate the trial preparations and said the budget for the case was 18 billion CFA francs (27.5 million euros, 43 million dollars). Of that budget Senegal itself is prepared to put up a billion CFA francs but the rest must come from donors.
"Donors believe that the amount of 18 billion CFA francs is quite high. They have promised funds but nothing has been given yet," said Ndiaye, who stressed that this type of trial was bound to be costly.
Senegal wants to revamp its old courthouse on Dakar's coast road but according to donors that is not necessary.
The head of the European Union delegation in Dakar, Gilles Hervio, told AFP Thursday that the EU had send a team of experts who commented on Senegal's budget for the Habre trial.
"We are still waiting for the budget to be adjusted to a lower figure," he stressed.
The EU is one of the main financial backers for the Habre trial together with France, the United States, Britain and Belgium.
Hervio said Senegal did not need to "rebuild its old courthouse because Senegal just finished building a brand new courthouse".
From afp.google.com
