“Every individual shall be entitled to the enjoyment of the rights and freedoms recognised and guaranteed in the present Charter without distinction of any kind such as race, ethnic group, colour, sex, language, religion, political or any other opinion, national and social origin, fortune, birth or any other status”. And Article 13.1 of the Charter provides that: “Every citizen shall have the right to participate freely in the Government of his country, either directly of through freely chosen representatives in accordance with the provision of the law. 72. The African Commission considers that the restrictions which can be imposed on the enjoyment of the rights prescribed by the African Charter should only be applied, where the need arises, in the spirit of the conditions provided for by the Charter. 9 73. ln , The Commission while restating the above statement added that “with these words, the Commission states a general principle that applies to all rights, not only freedom of association”. The Commission went further to state that “Governments should avoid restricting rights, and take special care with regard to those rights protected by constitutional or international human rights law…”. 74. The Ivorian Constitution of 2000, in its Articles 35 and 65, as conditions of eligibility to certain high offices of State, imposed limitations which effectively disqualified a certain percentage of the Ivorian population from aspiring to these positions. The Complainant puts the figure at 40%, and although the Respondent State disputes this figure, it does not dispute the existence of the situation itself. According to the State, the disqualification clause is justified on the basis of exigencies of “the level of loyalty”. It added that the practice is also current in other countries. 75. Article 2 of the African Charter provides that every individual shall be entitled to the enjoyment of the rights and freedoms recognised and guaranteed in the present Charter without distinction on any kind such as “…national or social origin, fortune, birth or other status”. Article 13 provides that “every citizen shall have the right to participate freely in the government of his country, either directly or through freely chosen representatives in accordance with the provisions of the law”. 76. Unlike Article 2 which talks of “every individual”, Article 13 is even clearer as it talks of “every citizen”. Under this Article therefore, every citizen shall have the right and the opportunity, without any of the distinctions mentioned in Article 2, and without unreasonable restriction, taken part in the conduct of government of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives, which includes to vote and to be elected at genuine periodic elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret ballot. 77. The right to participate in government or in the political process of ones country, including the right to vote and to stand for election, is a fundamental civil liberty and human right, and should be enjoyed by citizens without discrimination. The reason for this lies in the fact that, as a historical experience has shown, governments derived from the wall of the people, expressed in free elections, are those that provide the soundest guarantee that the basic human rights will be observed and protected. 78. Several other international instruments guarantee the rights under Articles 2 and Article 13 of the African Charter, that is, non-discrimination and to participate in government. Article 5(c) of International Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) states inter alia that in compliance with the fundamental obligations laid down in Article 2 of this Convention, States Parties undertake to prohibit and to eliminate racial discrimination in all its forms and to guarantee the right of everyone, without distinction as to race, colour, or national or ethnic origin, to equality before the law, notably in the enjoyment of the following rights “…(c) political rights, in particular the fight to participate in elections, to vote and to stand for election on the basis of universal and equal suffrage, to take part in the government as well as in the conduct of public affairs at any level and to have equal access to public service”. Article 2 in the ICERD refers to the obligation to eliminate racial discrimination and “to amend, rescind or nullify any laws and regulations which have the effect of creating or perpetuating racial discrimination wherever it exists”, Article 21 of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights on its part, provides that:“everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives,” and“has the right to equal access to public service.” Article 25 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)recognises and protects the fight of