65. The Court further notes that the Application does not contain any
disparaging or insulting language with regard to the Respondent State, and
thus meets the requirement of Rule 50(2)(c) of the Rules.
66. The Application is also not based exclusively on news disseminated through
mass media as they are based on court documents from the municipal
courts of the Respondent State, so that it complies with Rule 50(2)(d) of the
Rules.
67. The Application does not raise any matter or issues previously settled by
the parties in accordance with the principles of the Charter of the United
Nations, the Constitutive Act of the African Union, the provisions of the
Charter or of any legal instrument of the African Union as view under Rule
50(2)(g) of the Rules.
68. In view of the foregoing, the Court holds that the Application is admissible.
VII. MERITS
69. The Applicant alleges violation of the right to a fair trial due to lack of
effective legal representation and conviction based on unreliable evidence;
violation of the right to life as a result of imposition of mandatory death
penalty without fair trial; and violation of the right to dignity/freedom form
torture and inhuman treatment because of being on death row, contrary to
Articles 4, 5, and 7 of the Charter, respectively and the corresponding
provisions of the ICCPR. The Applicant also alleges that his right to be tried
within a reasonable time was violated.
70. The Court will now address each of these allegations sequentially.
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