EX.CL/717 (XX) Page 176 d) Correspondence with Mrs. Marise Castro of Amnesty International dated 5 January 1996 and 11 March 1996 respectively. e) Attempted to engage Mozambican Lawyers to no avail, because, he alleges they were too afraid; Through his sister he tried to find another Mozambican Lawyer whom he allege was also not available for this case; f) g) Other family members of first victim undertook several actions such as seeking information from the police and prisons; h) Sister and mother contacted the former President of Mozambique, Samora Machel and even had an appointment with the President. He promised to support the case but later died in an air crash in 1986 and could not conclude the case. 103. The question to be asked at this juncture is ‘what does exhaustion of local remedies entail? 104. The African Commission in Institute of Human Rights and Development in Africa and Interights v Mauritania81, made it clear that ‘the generally accepted meaning of local remedies, which must be exhausted prior to any communication/complaint procedure before the African Commission, are the ordinary remedies of common law that exist in jurisdictions and normally accessible to people seeking justice’. 105. The African Commission is of the view that the measures taken by the second victim in paragraph 102 above, do not only fall short of the judicial remedies required to be exhausted, but they also do not seem to be institutionalized administrative remedies. The second victim seemed to have been exploring other possibilities other than judicial remedies. The Complainant’s argument that the second victim approached lawyers who refused to take up the matter for fear of their lives has not been adequately substantiated – no dates have been indicated and there is no adequate indication of why the lawyers would be afraid to take up the matter. 106. 106. It is a general principle that the person who seizes the African Commission with a complaint is expected to demonstrate that he or she has complied with the requirements under Article 56 of the African Charter especially Article 56(5). The African Commission has developed in its jurisprudence that the person submitting the Communication (author or complainant) need not be the victim. All the author/Complainant needs to do is to comply with the requirements of Article 56. Communication 242/01 - Institute of Human Rights and Development in Africa and Interights v Mauritania 81