131.
The established international human rights jurisprudence sets three
criteria to determine whether or not a particular deprivation of liberty is arbitrary,
namely, the lawfulness of the deprivation, the existence of clear and reasonable
grounds and the availability of procedural safeguards against arbitrariness. 28
These are cumulative conditions and non-compliance with one makes the
deprivation of liberty arbitrary.
i) The lawfulness of the detention
132.
The Court notes that arrest or detention that lacks any legal basis is
arbitrary.29 Any deprivation of liberty shall have a legal basis or shall be carried
out in "accordance with the law".30
133. In the case at hand, the Respondent generally argues that the re-arrest of the
Applicants was lawful without indicating the specific law on the basis of which
the re-arrest was made. Nonetheless, the Court infers from the undisputed
submission of the Applicants that they were re-arrested on the basis of section
265 of the Penal Code of the Respondent. The Court thus, holds that there was
an adequate legal basis for the re-arrest and that it was conducted "in
accordance with the law".
ii) The Existence of clear and reasonable grounds
134.
The Court notes that a deprivation of liberty shall also have clear and
reasonable grounds. Although Article 6 of the Charter does not explicitly require
that the grounds should be clear or reasonable, the expression "reasons and
conditions" in the same implies that any arrest or detention should not be
conducted without adequate or reasonable grounds. 31
CCPR/C/39/D/305/1988 (1990), para. 5.8, A v. Australia, Communication No. 560/1993, U.N. Doc.
CCPR/C/59/D/560/1993 (30 April 1997), para. 9.2.
28 See Principle 1 (b),African Commission, Principles and Guidelines on the Right to a Fair Trial and
Legal Assistance in Africa, DOC/OS(XXX)247 (2001)
29 General Comment 35, Article 9 (Liberty and security of person), UN HRCttee, CCPR /C/GC/35
(2014), para. 11 Essono Mika Miha v. Equatorial Guinea, Communication No. 414/1990, U.N. Doc.
CCPR/C/51/D/414/1990 (1994), para. 6.5.
30 Ibid. See also Communication 368/09 Abdel Hadi, Ali Radi & Others v Republic of Sudan, African
Commission, (2014), paras. 79-80; Principle 2, UN Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons
under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment General Assembly NRES/43/173, 9 December 1988.
31 Communication No. 379/09 Monim Elgak, Osman Hummeida and Amir Suliman (represented by
FIDH and OMCT) v Sudan, 10 March 2015, para. 105,
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