86. The Complainants submit that they have fulfilled all the requirements of Article
56 of the African Charter.
87. The Complainants submit that the Communication is jointly presented by
Advocate Brain Spilg SC assisted by Attorney Unoda Mack and Ms Alica Mogwe
(on behalf of Ditshwanelo). By detailing their contact email addresses as
spilg@law.co.za for Brain Spilg SC and legal.ditshwanelo@info.bw for
AC
HP
R
Ditshwanelo, the Complainants argue that they complied with Article 56(1) of
the African Charter.
88. With regards to Article 56(2) of the African Charter, the Complainants contend
that not only have they outlined the Charter provisions which are allegedly
violated by the Respondent State to include Articles 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 7 of the
African Charter, but that they have also made submissions in support of the
alleged violations. The Complainants submit that the Communication, therefore,
satisfies the requirements of Article 56(2) of the African Charter.
89. With regards to the requirement of decorum, the Complainants submit that the
tone of language used in the Communication meets the requirement of Article
56(3) of the African Charter.
90. Concerning the requirement of evidential weight envisaged under Article 56(4)
of the African Charter, the Complainants aver that the Communication is based
on primary evidence that has been either verified under oath or is within the
personal knowledge of the authors.
While conceding that there is a single
reference to a media article, the Complainants argued that not only is that
information tangential, but also that the source of the article is verified under
oath by the newspaper‟s editors and forms part of the records of the Botswana
Court of Appeal. The Complainants submit that the provisions of Article 56(4)
have been adequately met.
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