22. By letter and Note Vcrbale dated 07 J u n e 2018 the Parties were informed that
the Respondent State had been granted an additional thirty (30) days within
which to submit on Admissibility.
23. By letters and Notes Verbales dated 18 September 2018 and 16 November 2018
the Parties were informed that the timeline for submission by the Respondent
State had expired.
24. By letters and Note Verbales dated 08 March 2019 and 06 June 2019, the Parties
were informed that consideration of the Communication was deferred to a later
Session.
Admissibility
The Complainants' Submissions on Admissibility
25. The Complainants submit that
the Communication
is admissible,
as all
the
requirements under Article 56 of the African Charter have been met.
26. The Complainants submit that the requirement under Article 56(1) is fulfilled,
as
the
Complaint
indicates
the
authors,
contains
their
names,
places
of
residence, date of birth, professions and relation to the deceased Victim.
27. The Complainants aver that the Communication is compatible with the African
Charter, as the Complainants invoke a violation of the right to life and personal
integrity (Article 4), the prohibition of torture (Article 5), the right to liberty and
security (Article 6), the presumption of innocence (Article 7) and the obligations
of State Parties under Article 1 to adopt legislative or other measures to give
effect to the rights under the Charter.
28. The Complainants further submit that the Communication is neither written in
disparaging
nor
insulting
language,
and
merely
contains
an
account of the
events which have taken place following the arrest of the Victim.
29. The Complaints further s u b m i t that the Complaint is not exclusively based on
news disseminated through the mass media, as the Complainants are the sisters
of the Victim and have personal knowledge of the circumstances of his death.
The Complainants aver that the Victim's family
them before the Nigerian authorities and
hired a lawyer to represent
to ensure that light is shed on the
circumstances surrounding the Victim's arrest and demise. They submit that
they
are
regarding
regularly
their
informed
case,
and
through
the
consequently,
personal knowledge of the matter.
lawyer
their
about
Complaint
all
is
developments
based
on
their