56. In the instant Application, the Applicants have provided no evidence on the
basis of which the Court can assess as to whether they were discriminated
against or not. Given the lack of evidence, in support of the Applicants’
allegations, the Court finds that the Applicants’ allegation of violation of
Article 2 of the Charter has not been established.
57. Accordingly, the Court dismisses the alleged violation of Article 2 of the
Charter.
B. Alleged violation of the right to equality before the law and equal
protection of the law
58. The Applicants allege that their right to equality before the law and to equal
protection of the law under Article 3 of the Charter was violated.
*
59. The Respondent State’s submissions did not directly address the
Applicants’ allegations under Article 3 of the Charter. It, however, generally
submitted that it had not violated any of the Applicants’ rights under the
Charter.
***
60. Article 3 of the Charter provides as follows:
1.
Every individual shall be equal before the law
2.
Every individual shall be entitled to equal protection of the law.
61. As the Court has previously emphasized, the right to equality before the law
and equal protection of the law, as enshrined in Article 3 of the Charter, is
closely related to the right to protection against discrimination, protected in
Article 2 of the Charter.19 The right to equality before the law requires that
September 2019) 3 AfCLR 498, §§ 75-77.
19 African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights v. Kenya (merits), supra, § 138.
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