After deliberation, renders the following Ruling: I. THE PARTIES 1. Mr. Mamadou DABO and 55 Others, (hereinafter referred to as “the Applicants”), are Malian nationals, and workers 2 of Louis Thomson Armstrong Mali SA, (hereinafter referred to as “LTA Mali SA”), twenty-six (26) of whom are members of the National Federation of Mines and Energy (FENAME) and of the Confederation of Trade Unions of Malian Workers (CSTM). They allege a violation of fundamental rights in connection with their right to be heard. 2. The Application is filed against the Republic of Mali (hereinafter “the Respondent State”), which became a party to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (hereinafter “the Charter”) on 21 October 1986, and to the Protocol on 20 June 2000. On 19 February 2010, the Respondent State deposited with the Chairperson of the African Union Commission the Declaration provided for in Article 34(6) of the Protocol (hereinafter “the Declaration”), by virtue of which it accepts the jurisdiction of the Court to receive applications from individuals and non-governmental organisations. II. SUBJECT OF THE APPLICATION A. Facts of the matter 3. It emerges from the records that on 11 June 2012, the Workers’ Trade Union Committee of LTA Mali SA gave notice of a strike to the employer. In the notice, they called for the immediate cessation of the arrest and dismissal proceedings in respect of fifty-six (56) workers, twenty-six (26) of whom are trade unionists, the payment of arrears in respect of a seven per cent (7%) 2 See the list of workers in the annex. 2