consummation of the marriage or widowed before or after the
consummation of the marriage, must observe a waiting period as
determined in the following article”. This is a period not exceeding three
months, in accordance with Article 35 of the Personal Status Code. She
submits that between the pronouncement of the divorce judgment and being
accused of adultery, five months elapsed. It follows that the fact of her
husband appealing the divorce judgment did not oblige the Applicant to
remain in the marriage.
99. The Applicant further submits that coercing her to stay married constitutes
a violation of the right to personal freedom and discrimination against
women within the meaning of Article 1(f) and (g) of the Maputo Protocol.17
*
100. The Respondent State maintains that the Applicant does not prove any of
the human rights violations she alleges.
***
101. Article 2 of the Charter provides as follows:
Every individual shall be entitled to the enjoyment of the rights and
freedoms recognized and guaranteed in the present Charter without
distinction of any kind such as race, ethnic group, colour, sex,
language, religion, political or any other opinion, national and social
origin, fortune, birth or other status.
102. Article 1 of the Maputo Protocol provides thus:
[…]
(f) “Discrimination against women” means any distinction, exclusion or
restriction or any differential treatment based on sex and whose
17 The Respondent State became a Party to the Maputo Protocol on 27 September 2018.
27