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I African Commission on
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Collective Responsibility
Human and Peoples' Rights
9. The Complainant also describes that in the 2002 Robben Island Guidelines Resolution, the African
Commission called on States to ensure that the victim of an act of torture, and any dependants, have
access to appropriate medical care, the means for social rehabilitation and medical rehabilitation, and
adequate compensation and support. She further states that the African Commission also frequently
grants reparations to victims whose rights under the African Charter have been violated= .
O.The Complainant states that the right to remedy and reparation is also recognized by other international
instruments and bodies including CEDAW which, in General Recommendation No. 30, states that "The
Committee reminds States parties that their obligations also require that they provide 'women with the right to
remedy, that is to say, the right to effective and adequate reparation for violations of their rights under the
Convention [CEDAW]"44 .
1. The Complainant argues that according to the Guidelines and Principles on the Right to a Fair Trial and
Legal Assistance in Africa, the right to an effective remedy includes access to justice, reparation for harm
suffered and access to factual information about violations. The Complainant reports in this sense that,
as the Committee has recognized, 'if redress is not provided to those whose rights ... have been violated, the
obligation to provide an effective remedy ... is not fulfilled'45.
2. The Complainant
asserts that the Respondent State was found by its own court to be responsible for
Sergeant Chance's actions, and was required to pay her damages. She explains that by failing to do so,
the State failed to provide effective remedies for the violations committed against her, as required by
Articles 1 and 7, read in conjunction with Articles 5 and 14 of the African Charter, and by Article 25, read
in conjunction with Article 4(2)(£)of the Maputo Protocol.
3. The Complainant emphasizes that regional and international human rights bodies recognize that the
obligation to provide reparation for serious violations generally requires the award of appropriate
See, for example, African Commission, Amnesty International and Others v. Sudan, Comm. No. 48/90,50/91, 52/91, 89/93
; Malawi African Association, Amnesty International, Ms Sarr Diop, Union interafricaine des droits de l'Homme et RADDHO,
Collectif des veuves et ayants-Droit, Association mauritanienne des droits de l'Homme v. Mauritania Comm. Mauritania
Comm, Nos. 54/91, 61/91, 98/93, 164/97 to 196/97 and 210/98; Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights and Interights v,
Egypt, Communication No. 334/06; for an overview of the African Commission's approach and jurisprudence on the right
to reparation, see REDRESS, «Accessing Justice - The Right to Reparation in the African Human Rights System', October
2013, available at www.redress.org/ downloads/ publications/1312french-reaching-for-justice-151013-french.pdf
44 CEDAW, General Recommendation
No. 30 on women in conflict prevention, conflict and post-conflict situations,
CEDAW/C/GC/30, 18 October 2013, para. 79.
." _"
45 Human Rights Committee, General Comment No. 31: The nature of the general legal obligatio ~p(;}!;eatUn.§tates parties
to the Covenant, CCPR/C/21/Rev.1/ Add.13, 29 March 2004, ara.16.
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