007/11 Youssef Ababou v. Morocco
AFRICAN COURT ON HUMAN AND PEOPLES' RIGHTS
IN THE MATTER OF
YOUSSEF ABABOU
v. KINGDOM OF MOROCCO
APPLICATION No. 007/2011
DECISION
The Court composed of: Gérard NIYUNGEKO, President; Sophia A.B. AKUFFO, Vice-president; Jean
MUTSINZI, Bernard M. NGOEPE, Modibo T. GUINDO, Fatsah OUGUERGOUZ, Joseph N. MULENGA,
Augustino S.L. RAMADHANI, Duncan TAMBALA, Elsie N. THOMPSON and Sylvain ORE -- Judges; and
Robert ENO-Acting Registrar,
In the matter of:
YOUSSEF ABABOU
v.
KINGDOM OF MOROCCO
Having regard to the above stated application and having deliberated thereon, the Court decides as follows:
The Facts
1. In his application, the Applicant alleges as follows: - the Kingdom of Morocco has refused, and continues
to refuse, to issue him his documents, which include, a national identity card and a passport;
- it has been many years since he started requesting his rights to these civil status documents from the
Consulate General of the Kingdom of Morocco and the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Morocco in Algeria,
"but the latter have systematically refused to respect [his] rights to these documents";
- he has all the necessary proof to show that he has taken all the required steps without success.
2. The Applicant prays the Court to "enroll this matter ... for justice to be rendered".
Procedure
3. The application dated 13th May, 2011, was received at the Registry of the Court on 18th May, 2011, and
was registered on the same date.
4. On 19th May, 2011, the Registrar wrote to the Applicant acknowledging receipt of the application and
observing that the application is not signed, does not specify the (i) alleged violation, (ii) evidence of
exhaustion of local remedies or of the inordinate delay of such local remedies, and; (iii) orders sought from
the Court.
5. Pursuant to Rule 35 (1) of the Rules of Court, the Registrar transmitted the application to the Judges on
19th May, 2011.
6. On 15th June, 2011, the Registrar wrote to the Applicant, reminding the latter to respond to the letter of
19th May, 2011, within thirty (30) days.
7. Via electronic mail of 20th June, 2011, the Applicant sent a signed copy of the application to the Registry.
8. By letter of 16th June, 2011, the Registrar requested the Office of the Legal Counsel of the African Union
Commission, to indicate whether the Kingdom of Morocco is a member of the African Union, and if so,
whether it has ratified the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights Establishing the
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