African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights - 2022

18 judgments
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18 judgments
Citation
Judgment date
November 2022
Communication alleging extrajudicial killings struck out for failure to submit admissibility observations and prosecute the case.
Procedure – Communications under the African Charter – 2010 Rules of Procedure (Rule 105, Rule 113) – Failure to submit observations on admissibility – Failure to prosecute – Strike out of communication.
9 November 2022
The respondent violated victims' rights through arbitrary detention, torture, and breaches of fair trial, expression and association.
Human rights law — arbitrary arrest and incommunicado detention — torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment — denial of prompt access to counsel and judicial review — restrictions on freedom of expression and association — effectiveness of domestic remedies and immunity of security personnel — admissibility where UN Working Group considered the case.
9 November 2022
Communication alleging illegal refoulement and unfair trial struck out for lack of diligent prosecution after missed admissibility submissions.
Procedure – Admissibility – Rule 105(1) and Rule 113 – Failure to file observations or to seek extension – Want of diligent prosecution – Strike out of Communication; Refugee law – Alleged illegal refoulement, incommunicado detention and unfair military trial – Provisional measures granted but matter procedurally dismissed.
9 November 2022
The Commission struck out the Mau Forest eviction communication for want of diligent prosecution due to no admissibility submissions.
Procedure — Strike out for want of diligent prosecution — Failure to file admissibility submissions under Rule 105(1) — No extension sought under Rule 113 — Provisional measures earlier issued — Alleged mass evictions in Mau Forest — Parallel proceedings before African Court noted.
9 November 2022
August 2022
Commission finds communication on Southern Cameroons inadmissible because its prayers conflicted with AU principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Human rights — Anglophone/Southern Cameroons crisis — Admissibility under Article 56 — identification of authors; compatibility with African Charter and AU Constitutive Act; territorial integrity and sovereignty; exhaustion/unavailability of domestic remedies; provisional measures.
2 August 2022
Communication partially admissible; Commission finds fair‑trial, expression and health violations and orders reparations and reform.
Admissibility — exhaustion of domestic remedies; Fair trial — prompt information of charges, prompt trial, access to counsel, presumption of innocence, judicial independence; Freedom of expression — overbroad anti‑terrorism law and criminalisation of journalism; Right to health — detention medical care; Remedies — reparations and law reform.
2 August 2022
Whether the respondent’s failure to provide ESIA and disclosure for a development project violated the applicants' right to development.
Admissibility — exhaustion of domestic remedies — State’s burden to show availability and effectiveness; Indigenous peoples — qualification criteria; Right to self-determination and participation — consultation and free, prior and informed consent for development projects; Right to development — requirement for impact assessment and public disclosure; Environmental rights — threshold for breach; Remedies — ESIA disclosure and reporting obligations.
2 August 2022
State violated Charter by torture (gang-rape), failing to investigate and denying effective remedies, forcing the victim into exile.
Human rights — Torture and sexual violence in custody — State due diligence to investigate and prosecute — Gender-based violence and discrimination — Obligation to ensure effective remedies and reparations — Admissibility: exhaustion and reasonable time.
2 August 2022
May 2022
State violated Articles 1, 4, 5 and 7 by torturing detainees, denying fair trial and imposing death sentences after unfair trials.
Human rights — torture and ill‑treatment — prohibition of coerced confessions — fair trial guarantees in anti‑terror proceedings — death penalty after unfair trial — admissibility and exhaustion of local remedies — applicable IHL in non‑international armed conflict (Darfur).
13 May 2022
Commission finds DRC violated Batwa rights by evicting them without consultation, resettlement or compensation and orders reparations.
African human rights law — admissibility (undue delay / exhaustion of domestic remedies); indigenous peoples — recognition, land, culture and resources; forced eviction and conservation — compatibility with human rights; violations of Articles 1,2,4,8,14,16,17,21,22,24; remedies: restitution, compensation, legislative and administrative measures.
13 May 2022
March 2022
Communication struck out for want of diligent prosecution due to the applicant's failure to file admissibility submissions.
Human rights communications – Admissibility – Failure to submit admissibility arguments within time – Rule 105(1) and Rule 113 Rules of Procedure – Strike out for want of diligent prosecution – Prior similar jurisprudence.
9 March 2022
Communication on death‑penalty and clemency procedure struck out for lack of diligent prosecution.
Human rights — Death penalty and clemency procedure — Provisional measures issued — Procedural compliance — Rule 108(1) and Rule 113 — Failure to prosecute — Strike out for want of diligent prosecution.
9 March 2022
A communication alleging torture and other rights violations was struck out for want of diligent prosecution after missed admissibility deadlines.
Human rights — Communication alleging torture, arbitrary arrest, detention and unlawful surveillance — Admissibility — Failure to submit evidence and arguments under Rule 105(1) — No extension sought under Rule 113 — Strike out for want of diligent prosecution.
9 March 2022
Whether the Commission should grant a State's request to withdraw an Article 49 communication at the merits stage.
Human rights procedure — Withdrawal of interstate communication under Article 49 — Admissibility and merits stages — Rule 124 Rules of Procedure (2020) — Commission grants withdrawal and closes file.
9 March 2022
Annulment of the applicant's candidacy without notice or hearing violated rights to a hearing and to participate in government.
Electoral law — Residency requirement — Procedural fairness (audi alteram partem; equality of arms) — Right to stand/participate in government (Article 13(1)) — Admissibility and exhaustion of local remedies — State’s failure to respond to the Commission.
9 March 2022
Communication alleging arbitrary eviction and service-related rights struck out for want of diligent prosecution.
Procedure – Admissibility – Rule 105(1) two-month submission requirement – Rule 113 extension procedure – Failure to prosecute – Strike out for want of diligent prosecution; Alleged violations of Articles 7 and 12 of the African Charter.
9 March 2022
The Commission granted the complainant's request to withdraw the communication and declared it closed.
Procedure — Communication withdrawal — Request granted where complainant sought withdrawal after Secretariat proposed striking out for want of diligent prosecution; Commission relies on prior jurisprudence — Communication closed.
9 March 2022
The respondent failed to protect, investigate or compensate the victim, violating property, fair trial and protection-from-abuse rights.
Admissibility — exhaustion of local remedies — flexible application where domestic remedies unavailable or ineffective; State obligation to protect against non-state actors; parliamentary privileges proceedings as tribunal for Article 7 purposes — fair trial and impartiality; expropriation of land — lawful procedure and adequate compensation; arbitrary arrest and denial of counsel; discrimination on political/racial grounds.
9 March 2022