33. While it seems easy to apply and interpret the first limb of the provision, it might not
be as straight forward to apply or interpret its second limb, which starts with the phrase
“in the absence thereof”. Indeed, it is quite evident that the second limb comes into
play only where the first limb cannot apply. However, it is not clear as to what should be
absent. Is it the enactment, publication, directive, decision or action complained of? Or
is it the date of such enactment, publication, directive, decision or action? To any
reasonable mind, the first question can only be answered in the negative, since one
cannot complain against something that does not exist. We are convinced that by the
phrase “in the absence thereof”, the drafters of the Treaty meant “in the absence of
any known date thereof”.
34. The second limb would then apply where the claimant does not know the exact date
of the action complained of. For instance in the case of The Attorney General of the
Republic of Rwanda v Plaxeda Rugumba, Appeal No. 1 of 2012, decided by this
Court on 22nd June 2012, the action complained of was the incommunicado detention
of the Complainant. The detainee’s sister who filed the complaint in Court, did not and
could not know of the date of her brother`s detention. But that is not the same situation
in this instant case of Omar Awadh.
35. In the circumstances of the instant Appeal, the Court must determine the specific
actions complained of. In this regard, the Respondents indicated that the dominant
action complained of was the detention. They also alleged other wrongful actions,
such as their arrest and rendition. Nonetheless, they conceded that all those were
“instantaneous actions”, meaning that they are capable of being time barred – unlike
detention which is “continuous”. For the purposes of this Appeal, therefore, detention is
the action which the Respondents aver cannot be time-barred (on account of its being a
“continuous violation”).
36. The Court finds that the detention complained of followed a chain of events – all of
which can be very well located in time.
Applying Article 30 (2) and following the
approach described above would establish whether the first limb of the provision applies
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