obo3Bo.
the rule of exhaustion of local remedies, the Commission
and the Court have both developed extensive jurisprudence.15
67.1n applying
68.1n
the case of GabrielShumbavZimbabwe,the Commission has elaborated
that, where it is impracticable or undesirable for a complainant to seize the domestic
courts, the complainant will not be required to exhaust local remedies.16
69.The complainant in the Gabriel Shumba v Zimbabwe case had been charged with
organising, planning
or conspiring to
overthrow
the
government through
unconstitutional means and thereafter fled Zimbabwe in fear of his life after he was
allegedly tortured by the Respondent State's agents.
70.The Commission applied the criteria it set out in Jawara v The Gambia that
"...remedies the availability of which is not evident, cannot be invoked by the State
to the detriment of the complainant" . The Commission also determined that
[T]he existence of a remedy must be sufficiently certain, not in theory but also in
practice. Failing which, it will lack the requisite accessibility and effectiveness.
Therefore, if the applicant cannot turn to the judiciary of his country because of the
generalised fear for his life (or even those of relatives) local remedies would be
considered to be unavailable."
17
71.The Commission found that "the Complainant could not avail himself of the same
remedy due to the principle of constructive exhaustion of local remedies, by virtue
15
Communlcalion 147195-149lg5 Jawara v Gambia AHRLR 107 (ACHPR 2000) S
31
; Communication
389110 Mbiankeu Genevidve v Cameroon (ACHPR 2015), $S 48,72,82; Communication 275103 (2007)
Article 19 v. Eritrea AHRLR 73 (ACHPR 2007) S 48; Communication 299i05 (2006) Anuak Justice Councit
v. Ethiopia AHRLR 97 (ACHPR 2006); Application No. 009/2015. Judgment of 2810312019 (Merits and
Reparations) Lucien lkili Rashidi v United Republic of Tanzania g 35; Wilfred Onyango Nganyi and Others
v Tanzania (merits) (2015) 1 AfcLR s07 SS 90 -92; Loh6 lssa Konatd v Burkina Faso (merits) (2014) 1 AfCLR
314, SS 77 and 96 -115; Beneficiaries of late Noheft Zongo, Abdoulaye Nikiema atias Ablasse, Ernest
Zongo, Blaise llboudo and Mouvement Burkinabe des Drolfs de I'Homme et des Peuples v Burkina Faso
(merits) (2014\ 1 AfCLR 21 9 gS s6 -1 06.
15
Communication 288104 Gabriel Shumba v Zimbabwe (ACHPR 2012).
17
Communication 288/04 Gabriel Shumba v Zimbabwe (ACHPR 2012) S 73
t7
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