Communication is submitted within a reasonable time as the violations are
ongoing, and that there is no disparaging language in the Communication.
IV.
The Committee’s analysis of the admissibility of the Communication
15. The Committee examines the admissibility of this Communication pursuant to
Article 44 of the Charter and the Communications Guidelines. In accordance with
Article 44 and section I (1) of the Communications Guidelines, non-governmental
organizations legally recognized by one or more of the Member States of the
African Union or State Party to the Charter or the United Nations are entitled to
submit Communications before the Committee. The Committee notes that the
three Complainants- Child Rights and Rehabilitation Network (CRARN), the Centre
for Human Rights (CHR) and the Institute for Human Rights and Development in
Africa (IHRDA) are registered in Nigeria, South Africa, and The Gambia,
respectively. Moreover, the Committee notes that the Communication is filed on
behalf of children allegedly affected by violations of the rights guaranteed under
the Charter and is directed against a State Party thereto. The Committee,
therefore, accepts that the Complainants have standing and that it has the
jurisdiction to consider the Communication.
16. Concerning the admissibility of the Communication, the Committee assesses if the
conditions provided under Section IX (1) of the Communications Guidelines are
fulfilled. In the absence submissions from the Respondent State, the Committee
assesses whether the six admissibility conditions set forth under Section IX(1) are
met on the basis of the information available before it.
17. The first condition provided under Section IX (1) (a) is that a Communication must
be compatible with the Charter. The Committee, in its previous decisions has
explained that a Communication is compatible with the Charter if it discloses a
prima facie violation of the Charter.2 The Current Communication alleges violations
of Articles 3, 5, 11, 13, and 16 of the provisions of the Charter in relation to children
accused of witchcraft in the Respondent State. Accordingly, the Committee finds
that the Communication is compatible with the Charter, hence this condition is
satisfied.
18. The second condition under Section IX (1) (b) of the Communications Guidelines
requires that a Communication should not exclusively be based on media
information as indicated. The Committee, indeed, notes the vital role media can
play in reporting human rights violations; hence, media report is not disregarded in
the proceeding of Communications. The same has been recognized by the African
2
African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACERWC), Communication
No 003/Com/001/2012, The Centre for Human Rights (University of Pretoria) and another v
Senegal, para 18; ACERWC, Communication No 0016/Com/004/2020, African Centre for Justice
and Peace Studies (ACJPS) (on behalf of Ms Umjumah Osman Mohamed) v The Sudan,
Decision on Admissibility No: 002/2021, para 31.
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