258/02 Miss A / Cameroon Summary of Facts 1. On 21st August 2002, the Secretariat of the African Commission received from Miss A, a Cameroonian citizen, a communication relative to the provisions of Article 55 of the African Charter (the African Charter). Miss A submitted the communication for and on behalf of her father and co. 2. The communication was submitted against the Republic of Cameroon (a State Party 1 to the African Charter) and Miss A alleged in the communication that her father and two colleagues, former workers of the Cameroon P & T were arrested and detained in 1998 by the police, as conspirators of the Minister of P & T, who was also arrested and detained for alleged corruption. 3. The Complainant further alleged that since 1998, when her father and two of his colleagues have been in detention, they have never been formally charged, they have never appeared in court and never had access to a lawyer. The Complainant added that the State did not appear to have any intention to try them in the foreseeable future, whereas the delicate health of her father required constant medical attention. Complaint 4. Miss A contends that the above-described facts constitute a violation by Cameroon of Articles 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12 and 26 of the African Charter, and requests the African Commission to: 1. Ask Cameroon take appropriate measures in order to avoid irreparable damage to the health and well being of the said detainees; 2. Pronounce the Government of Cameroon in violation of the African Charter and other international human rights treaties; 3. Request Cameroon to bring the accused persons to trial immediately or order their release; 4. Request the erring State to compensate her father and his co-detainees for the period they have been in detention. Procedure 5. By letter ACHPR/COMM/258/2002 of 23rd August 2002, the Secretariat of the African Commission acknowledged receipt of the communication and informed the sender that it would be tabled for consideration prima facie at its 32nd Ordinary Session. 6. During its 32nd Session, held from the 17th to 23rd October 2002 in Banjul, The Gambia, the [African] Commission considered the communication and decided to be seized of it. 7. On 22nd October 2002, the Chairman of the [African] Commission sent a letter requesting the urgent intervention of the President of the Republic of Cameroon, drawing his attention to the situation of the two detainees and in particular on their state of health and urged the Head of State to ensure that appropriate medical care is provided for the detainees. The Chairman of the [African] Commission also requested in his letter that the detainees be charged and given a fair trial or freed in case no charge is made against them. 8. On 28th October 2002, the Secretariat of the [African] Commission sent a Note Verbale to Cameroon informing it of the communication against it and the decision of seizure that the [African] Commission had taken on it. Cameroon was further requested to provide the [African] Commission with its arguments on the admissibility of the case, which the [African] Commission intends to consider at its 33rd Session (5th to 19th May 2003, Niamey, Niger). 9. On the same date, the Secretariat of the [African] Commission sent a letter to the Complainant informing her of the decision of seizure that the [African] Commission had taken on her case as well as of the letter for urgent intervention that the Chairman of the [African] Commission had sent to the President of the Republic of Cameroon at her request. The Complainant was also requested to furnish the [African] Commission with possible arguments on the admissibility of the case, which the [African] Commission intended to consider at its 33rd Session. 1