ACHPR African Commission on Human and Peoples' fiights Human Hights our Collective Responsibility demonstrate that domestic remedies were available and effective and thus the Complainants were discharged from the obligation to exhaust them. 58. Indeed, in those cases, the State of Eritrea admitted that it had detained the mentioned victims and that it had failed to bring them before a court of law due to various shortcomings in its criminal justice system. It admitted that the High Court of Asmara had only one chamber responsible for handling criminal matters and that the Court's calendar was highly congested as a result leading to significant delays in bringing detainees before a court of law. The admissions, therefore, aligned with the Commission's presumption that domestic remedies were not effective. 59. In the present Communication, at the time of submission of the Complaint, the victim had been allegedly detained incommunicado for two months notwithstanding the need for urgent medical attention. In this Commission's considered opinion, the State has had ample time and notice to at least charge the Victim or grant him access to legal representation, considering that he is a highprofile individual whose release and whereabouts have been requested by numerous internationally reputable organisations=. Indeed, over a year has passed since the Commission seized this Communication and engaged the State, but the latter has not been forthcoming and has not complied with requests for assurances that the Victim's health needs vyould be managed while in custody. 60. Admittedly, the Respondent State in the present Communication, unlike previous Communications, has not acknowledged detaining the victim nor any shortcomings in its criminal justice system. While the Commission cannot conclusively findthat the State has detained the Victim, the Complainants adduce reliable evidence establishing a prima facie case that state agents detained the Victim incommunicado. Nevertheless, this Commission is convinced that Eritrea's admissions in the previous Communications did not affect their outcome. The State's admissions merely confirmed the presumption that domestic remedies were ineffective, a presumption established by the failure to afford due process guarantees for alleged victims of incommunicado detention. Indeed, where a party raises non-exhaustion of local remedies because of a lack of due process guarant~es 26 An Organ of the African (P\ -~.M...\ · U ruon '-,llI';'·. https:/achpr.au.inVCI U a

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