-
A declaration that the Defendant failed in its obligation to respect the rights
of the deceased persons- notably their right to life;
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A declaration that the failure and/or refusal of the Defendant to investigate,
discipline and prosecute the police officers "involved in the arbitrary arrest,
torture and unlawful killing" of the deceased persons constitute violation of
a number of rights provided notably under the African Charter on Human
and Peoples' Rights;
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An order directing the Defendant to set up an independent panel of inquiry
to look into the extra judicial killing of the deceased persons;
-
An order directing the Defendant "to tender an apology to the Pla,intiff by
publishing the said letter of apology in five national dailies."
Before taking a closer look at the substance of these requests, the Court must
recall two essential provisions which govern the procedure followed before it.
Firstly, Article 11of the 6 July 1991Protocol A/P.1/7/91, in whose terms: "Cases
may be brought before the Court by an application addressed to the Court
Registry. This application shall set out the subject matter of the dispute and
the parties involved and shall contain a summary of the argument put forward
as well as the plea of the plaintiff.
Secondly, Article 33 of the Rules of Procedure of the Court, which states that:
"An application of the kind referred to in Article 11 of the Protocol shall state:
(a) the name and address of the applicant;
(b) the designation of the party against whom the application is made;
(c) the subject-matter of the proceedings and a summary of the pleas in Jaw on
which the application is based;
(d) the form of order sought by the applicant;
(e) where appropriate, the nature of any evidence offered in support."
Considering the reliefs sought by the Plaintiff and the provisions referred to
above, the Court must find whether the case-file before it carries sufficiently
convincing proofs of evidence and pointers enabling the Court to proceed to
examine the Application further. The Court notes, in that regard, that even if the
Application puts forward indisputably serious facts, the submissions therein do
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