Consequently, the Court concludes that in the circumstances, the individual Applicants
did no longer need to exhaust the other local remedies under Burkinabé judicial system.
2) On the issue of the Burkinabe Human and Peoples’ Rights Movement
107. In formulating the objection to admissibility on grounds of non-exhaustion of local
remedies, the Respondent did not make
any distinction between the steps taken by
individual Applicants on the one hand, and those taken by the Burkinabé Human
and
Peoples’ Rights Movement, on the other.
108. In response to a question from a member of the Court during the Public Hearing of
8 March 2013,
Counsel for the Applicants explained that under Burkinabé
victims may bring cases before criminal courts.
law, only
The Counsel cited, in that regard, article
2 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Burkina Faso which provides that: “civil action for
damages caused by a crime, an offence or a contravention shall be brought by all those
who have suffered personally from the damage directly caused”, and explained that the
Burkinabé Human
and Peoples’ Rights Movement was not a direct victim in this matter,
and could not therefore bring the case before Burkinabé courts.
109. According to the afore-cited article 56(5) of the Charter, the Applicant is required to
exhaust local remedies only in so far as such remedies “exist” in his case.
110.
In the instant case,
it would
appear,
in light of the aforesaid, that the Burkinabe
Human and Peoples’ Rights Movement is not entitled to bring action in this matter before
the courts in Burkina Faso.
111. Consequently, the Respondent cannot object to the admissibility of the application
on grounds
of non-exhaustion
of local remedies
because
one
of the Applicants,
the
Burkinabé Human and Peoples’ Rights Movement did not exhaust the said remedies.
112. In light of all the above considerations, the Court concludes that the Respondent's
objection to the admissibility of the application on the grounds of failure to exhaust local
remedies should be
overruled both in regard to the case of the individual Applicants and
in regard to that of the Burkinabé Human and Peoples’ Rights Movement.