About a dozen people in a court room in Senegal's capital, Dakar, jumped up and down, crying "We won!" when an appeals judge upheld the life sentence imposed on Chad's ex-President Hissene Habre, Reuters news agency reports.
The group was made up of victims of atrocities committed during Habre's eight-year rule in Chad.
One of them, Clement Abaifouta, said:
Our patience has paid off. Never again will a dictator... be permitted to do horrible things and escape justice." Habre, 74, had appealed against his conviction for crimes against humanity.
A special court set up by the African Union had convicted him last year.
He was exiled in Senegal when he was arrested following intense pressure from victims, rights groups and some Western governments.
Habre's lawyer Francois Serres said the trial was politically motivated:
Africa cannot be proud of this trial. It was unfair from beginning to end."
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