35. The Commission took a decision on the merits of the communication during its 39th Ordinary Session, which was held from 11th to 25th May 2006 in Banjul, The Gambia. Law Admissibility 36. The law relating to the admissibility of communications brought pursuant to Article 55 of the African Charter is governed by the conditions stipulated in Article 56 of the African Charter. This Article lays down seven (7) conditions, which generally must be fulfilled by a Complainant for a communication to be declared admissible. 37. In the present communication, the Respondent State submitted that the communication should be declared inadmissible by virtue of the fact that the communication did not satisfy the requirements contained in Articles 56(4) and (5) of the African Charter. 38. Article 56(4) of the African Charter provides that : - Communications ... received by the Commission shall be considered if they: (4) are not based exclusively on news disseminated through the mass media 39. The Respondent State alleged that the statement of facts submitted by the Complainant was based on information disseminated through the mass media which information should be considered cautiously. They submit that the statements recorded by the Complainant in Appendix 1 are tailor-made to suit press reports. The State indicated that an illustration of such a case was when an independent newspaper, the Daily News on 23rd April 2002 published a story furnished by one Mr. Tadyanemhanda stating that his wife Brandina Tadyanemhanda had been decapitated by ZANU (PF) members in front of her children for the sole reason that she was a supporter of the MDC Party, noting that the story was later found to be false. That Mr. Tadyanemhanda's son, Tichaona Tadyanemhanda was listed as one of those persons whose death was reported to have occurred as a result of the political violence that took place from March 2000 to 30 November 2001. The Respondent State concluded that, as indicated by the Police, the death of Tichaona Tadyanemhanda was never political. 40. The Respondent State maintained that during the period prior to, during and following the Referendum, there was a concerted effort by the ''so called independent press'' and the international press to publish false stories in order to tarnish Zimbabwe's image. The State thus submitted that the media reports in Appendix 2 of the Complainant's submissions were not meant to buttress the accounts of eyewitnesses but that the statement of facts by the complaint was a presentation of the contents of newspaper articles. 41. In their submissions to the African Commission, the Complainant stated that the communication was not based solely on reports gathered from the press. They asserted that Appendix 1 contained statements made by victims, while Appendix 4 was a judgment of the High Court of Zimbabwe and Appendix 2 contained selected extracts of media reports and the information therein had been provided in order to buttress the statements made by victims. According to the Complainant, the newspaper reports were meant to corroborate the direct evidence provided by the victims. 42. The African Commission has had the opportunity to review the documents before it as submitted by the Complainant. While it may be difficult to ascertain the veracity of the statements allegedly made to the Complainant by the alleged victims, it is however evident through the judgment of the High Court of Zimbabwe that the communication did not rely "exclusively on news disseminated through the mass media" as the Respondent State would like the African Commission to believe. 43. Besides, this Commission has held in Communications 147/95 and 149/961 , that "while it would be dangerous to rely exclusively on news disseminated through the mass media, it would be equally damaging if the African Commission were to reject a communication because some aspects of it are based on news disseminated through the mass media. This is borne out of the fact that the Charter makes use of the word 'exclusively' ". Based on this reasoning, the African Commission is of the opinion that the communication is not based "exclusively on news disseminated through the mass media. The operative term being "exclusively". 44. The other provision of the Charter in contention between the parties is Article 56(5) of the African Charter. This sub article provides that ...communications ... received by the Commission shall be considered if they: (5) are sent after exhausting local remedies, if any unless it is obvious that this procedure is unduly prolonged 45. The Respondent State submitted in this regard that the Complainant failed to exhaust domestic remedies by virtue of failing to pursue the alternative remedy of lodging a complaint with the Office of the 3