[to] which article 56(5) refers entails remedy sought from courts of a judicial
nature ... "51 Furthermore, "[t]he author [of a Communication] must have taken the
matter to all the available domestic legal remed ies. That is, he or she must have
taken the case to the highest court of the land." 52 However, when a remedy is a
discretionary, extraordinary remedy of a non-judicial nature, then the Complainants
are not required to pursue it as part of the requirement of exhaustion of local
remedies."53
77. The import of the foregoing is that Article 56(5) of the African Charter contemplates
the exhaustion of the ordinary remedies of common law that exist in the judicial
courts of the Respondent States. The remedies required to be pursued must also
be 'available, effective and sufficient". 54
78. Furthermore, in Monim Elgak, Osman Hummeida and Amir Suliman (represented
by FIDH and OMCT) v. Sudan, 55 the African Commission held that Complainants
are required to exhaust local judicial remedies in accordance with the laws of the
country concerned, which include laws that govern procedural matters. However,
the requirement of exhaustion of local remedies is not an absolute rule, it has
exceptions put in place to ensure that complainants will not be hindered from
bringing potential human rights violations before the African Commission as a
result of procedural impediments emanating from unjust laws or practices.
79. In light of the above-cited jurisprudence of the African Commission in relation to
this requirement, and having reviewed the submissions of the Complainant, the
African Commission in this case upholds the Complainant's claim for exemption
from exhaustion of local remedies in relation to alleged violations of Articles 6 and
7 of the African Charter for the reasons that local remedies are unavailable to
challenge the arbitrary detention in alleged violation of Article 6 of the African
Charter, because under Sudanese law, the detention is lawful and permitted, and
cannot be routinely challenged in court, in view of:
(i)
Article 50( 1)( e) of the NSA 2010 of the Respondent State, which vests the
NSS with the power to detain any suspected person without an arrest
warrant,56 as opposed to the African Charter guarantees of the right to
personal liberty under Article 6 of the African Charter and the subsidiary
Guidelines on the Conditions of Arrest, Police Custody and Pre-Trial
Detention in Africa (the Luanda Guidelines) which require that arrests
Mauritania (2004) ACHPR, para 27.
51 Communication 221/98 - Alfred B. Cudjoe vs. Ghana (1999) ACHPR, para 14.
s2Information
Sheet
No.
3
on
the
Communications
Procedure,
available
at
<http://www.achpr.org/communications/procedure/>.
53 Communication 379/09 (fn 19 above), para. 67
54 Communications 147/95-149/96, fn 13 above, & Communication 155/96: The Social and Economic Rights Action Centre
(SERAC) v Nigeria, para. 37.
55 Communication 379/09 (fn 19 above), para 58.
56 See gene~ally, S. 50(1), _
NSA 2010 (available at https://sgbv-ihrda.uwazi.io(en/entity/0jlrotxryodk). See als.2,J?~ ~6._..31 &
66 of the African Comm1ss1on's Concluding Observations on the 4th & 5th Periodic State Report of SudanJ1WNava1lable,,q!
https://www.achpr.org/public/Document/file/English/concluding_observation_.pdij; and para. B of Ac_p,fe-s[dl'ltefrmflfnal's
submission on The Sudan to the UN Universal Periodic Review 11th session of the UPR Working Groue_J'Ma1
ava le
~
at
https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/filesnib-docs/HRBodies/UPR/Documents/Session11/SD/A1~j\mn tylntem.aijona ) "? ~
eng.pdij.
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