113. Thus they urge the Court to hold that the Ministerial Order N° 7580 /
MINSTSP of 20 July 2011 violates the freedom of assembly and
demonstration of all the inhabitants of Senegal.
114. In its response, the Respondent argues that the Applicants failed to state
that these freedoms are exercised in accordance with the conditions
provided for by law.
115. They submit that while freedom of assembly is closely related to other
fundamental rights such as freedom of expression and freedom of
movement, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) applies the
principle of lex specialis. According to this principle, when several
freedoms are intertwined in the context of a demonstration, it is from the
point of view of the law most relevant to the facts that the situation should
be approached. The other rights should be seen as the lex generalis. It
should be noted that unlike European countries, Senegal has enshrined the
freedom of demonstration, which reinforces the lex specialis in this case.
116. They further submitted that the Court is not competent to examine the
decree of the Minister of the Interior of July 20, 2011 or to verify its
conformity with the international obligations of Senegal. They therefore
urge the Court to reject the claims of the Applicants.
******
117. Article 11 of the African Charter which guarantees the right to freely
assemble with others provides thus: “Every individual shall have the right
to assemble freely with others. The exercise of this right shall be subject
only to necessary restrictions provided for by law, in particular those
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