..
,'
definition of the United Nations Human Rights Commission. On .arbitrary
1
detention, the Working Group considered as "arbitrary", instances of
denial of liberty, which for one reason or another, are contrary to the
relevant international norms enunciated in the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights, or instances which are so considered by the relevant
international instruments ratified by the States.
To determine the arbitrary nature of a detention, the Working Group set
out three criteria, namely that:
-
It shall be manifestly impossible to invoke any legal basis
whatsoever to ju stify the denial of liberty;
-
Denial of liberty
shall be' corollary to the exercise of rights
_or freedoms stipulated by Articles 7, 13, 14, 18, 19, 20 and 21 of
the Universal
States
Declaration
of Human
Rights, in as far as the
are parties to the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights;
'
- Non-observance, be
it total or
norms relating
right
to
the
Universal Declaration
to
fair
partial, of
the
international
trial, as enunciated in the
of Human Rights and in the international
instruments r a t i f i e d b y t h e s t a t e s concerned, is of such gravity
as the denial
of liberty
i s of an arbitrary nature.
34. On the whole, Sow Bertin Agba was illegally held in prison for 9 months
and 21 days, aside of the fact that he was held in custody for 16 days for
the purposes of the preliminary inquiry on the premises of the National
Intelligence Agency (ANR) Gendarmerie.
35. Since the detention of the Applicant is not on any legal basis, it is
arbitrary, and violates the provisions of the following legal instruments
ratified by the Republic of Togo:
36. Article 9 of the 10 December 1948 Universal Declaration of Human
Rights, which provides that: "No one shall be subjected to arbitrary
arrest, detention or exile";
Article .9(1) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights:
10