the Complainant whether the Complainant was in another country of free will
or under duress is irrelevant, the relevant consideration being that he was
residing in another country at the time of filing the complaint.
77. The Complainant further submits that it is in line with the Commission's
decision in Obert Chinhnmo v Zimbabwe to find that 11 months from relocation is
a reasonable period under article 56(6), since he needed time to settle in Nairobi
and consider his position, which was also challenging given that he was
separated from his family and friends and no longer had an income from
journalism. The Complainant also reiterated the considerations in the
Commission's jurisprudence of complexities of getting representation before an
international body and the challenges of communication systems in Africa.
78. The Complainant submits that he met his legal representatives for the first time
on 15 May 2015, and that they were based in Uganda, which made it difficult
for them to obtain instructions, but that they interviewed to Complainant again
on 12 June, 21 July and 10 September 2015, and filing the complaint with five (5)
months after his initial meeting with his legal representatives. The Complainant
also referred to the jurisprudence of the UN Human Rights Committee and the
Inter-American Commission of Human Rights, which, like the Commission do
not provide fixed timeframes for submissions where the Complainant was not
required to exhaust domestic remedies. Drawing from this the Complainant
submits that the Commission should take into account the political instability
in the Respondent State at the time, as evidenced by the declaration of the state
of emergency. The Complainant in addition submits that the State has not
submitted nor is there any evidence that the State had suffered prejudice
because of the time taken in filing the Communication. The Complainant thus
reiterates that he has complied with the requirements under Article 56(6).
79. For these reasons, the Complainant maintains that the requirements under
Article 56 have been met and the Communication should be found admissible.
Commission's Analysis on Admissibility
80. Article 56 of the African Charter outlines seven (7) conditions which must all be
met for a Communication to be declared admissible. Failure to comply with one
or several of these conditions renders the Communication inadmissible.