The African Commission’s Analysis on Admissibility
47. The Admissibility of Communications within the African Commission is
governed by the requirements of Article 56 of the African Charter. These
requirements
are
cumulative
and
must
all
be
satisfied
for
a
Communication to be Admissible. If one of the requirements is not met,
the African Commission will declare the Communication inadmissible,
unless the Complainant provides sufficient reasons why any of the
requirements could not be met.
48. In the Communication before the African Commission, the Complainant
avers that apart from Article 56(5) of the African Charter, all the other
requirements under Article 56 have been complied with. The Respondent
State however argues that the Complainant has not complied with Articles
56(2), 56(5) and 56(6) of the African Charter.
49. Since the Respondent State does not dispute compliance with the other
sub-articles under Article 56 of the African Charter, the African
Commission will proceed to analyze only the contentious Articles, so as to
establish whether the Communication complies with these Articles or not.
50. Article 56(2) of the African Charter provides that “A Communication should
be compatible with the Charter or the Constitutive Act of the African Union.” In
substantiating compliance with Article 56(2) of the African Charter, the
Complainant alleges that the Respondent State has violated the Victim‟s
right to physical integrity, fair trial, freedom of association, property,
work, protection against torture and arbitrary detention, guaranteed by
Articles 4, 5, 6, 7(b) and 14 of the African Charter.
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