Another argument raised by the Defendant is that the Plaintiff cannot claim any form of "right to life" before the ECOWAS Court, particularly as a result of the fact that the victims are "deceased". In its Notice of Preliminary Objection, the Federal Republic of Nigeria submitted that: "Having acknowledged the fact that the deceased persons were murdered, their (the deceased's) rights to life were thus extinguished and are unenforceable by the Plaintiff or any other persons ... And the Honourable Court will have no jurisdiction to entertain the suit." Further, in its written pleadings, the Federal Republic of Nigeria equally contended that: "Since the Plaintiff maintain that the deceased were killed, the aforesaid deceased's right to life is unenforceable. The Honourable Court cannot enforce an unenforceable right." The Defendant's reasoning thus tends to deny the heirs and close· relatives of the "deceased" every right to bring any claim whatsoever before the Court, notably in so far as it concerns "right to life." Such view on the issue is inconsistent with the practice of several international courts, before which the right of persons close to people considered "deceased" or "disappeared", is well established. A number of international institutions may be cited in that regard: - The UN Committee on Human Rights (Communication No. 1912/2009, Views adopted by the Committee at its 106th Session, 15 October- 2 November 2012}; - The Inter-American Court of Human Rights (Velasquez Rodriguez v. Honduras, 29 July 1988}; European Court of Human Rights (Judgments on Kurt v. Turkey, 20 May 1998, and Cakici v. Turkey, 8 July 1999}. Before all these Courts, it is upheld that close relatives of "deceased" victims are entitled to bringing such cases before court. The ECOWAS Court of Justice is therefore quite surprised by the Defendant's argument that such a right may only be claimed by such holders as are alive, and not dead. When it becomes impossible for him whose right is violated to insist on that right or to seek redress, either because he is deceased or prevented in one way or the other 7