CCPR/C/86/D/1159/2003 page 6 3.2 The authors maintain that the State party has failed to comply with its obligations (a) to provide them with an effective remedy for the violations they suffered, in accordance with article 2, paragraph 3 (a) and (b), of the Covenant, and (b) to guarantee the impartiality of justice as required under article 14, paragraph 1, of the Covenant. In this regard, the authors explain that the purpose of the decision taken by the court of first instance to declare the military courts competent and to require an abnormally high bond (1 million CFA francs) was to obstruct the examination of their complaint and, consequently, constituted a violation of the “equality of arms” principle. Similarly, the fact that their counsel were obliged to make a formal request to the Court of Appeal to issue a decision falls into the above category of violations. The authors consider that this also applied to the procedure before the Supreme Court, in particular because the President of the Supreme Court is a supporter of both the ruling party and the serving President, and because the decision to rule the appeal inadmissible on the grounds that no bond had been paid was in fact a pretext for not ruling on the merits of the case. 3.3 The authors consider that, as a minor, Auguste Sankara should have been exempted from deposit of a bond under the legislation in force. However, by its decision of 19 June 2001, the Supreme Court refused to recognize him as a minor, in breach of article 16 of the Covenant. 3.4 Lastly, the authors maintain that the authorities’ refusal to correct Thomas Sankara’s death certificate constitutes a continuing violation of article 6, paragraph 1, of the Covenant. Observations of the State party on the admissibility of the communication 4.1 In its observations of 1 April 2003, the State party contests the admissibility of the communication. 4.2 The State party conducts what it terms a historical review, focusing primarily on the conditions under which Captain Thomas Sankara came to power on 4 August 1983 and the consequences of this development in terms of human rights violations. The State party describes what it calls a process of democratization and national reconciliation under way since 1991. It also describes the remedies available in Burkina Faso. 4.3 The State party considers that the authors have abused the procedure afforded by the Optional Protocol. In this regard, it points out that, on 30 September 2002, the authors lodged with the senior examining judge in the Ouagadougou Tribunal de Grande Instance a complaint against a person or persons unknown for failure to produce the corpse, accompanied by an application for criminal indemnification. On 16 October 2002, without awaiting the results of this application, the authors submitted a complaint to the Committee. On 16 January 2003, the Procurator of Faso issued a direction not to commence a judicial examination, invoking the previous complaint by the claimant concerning the death of Thomas Sankara. On 3 February 2003, the examining judge in the Ouagadougou Tribunal de Grande Instance issued an order declaring the complaint unfounded, given that the same claimant had, in September 1997, lodged a complaint concerning the assassination of the same person, whose death had been confirmed by the evidence. In the State party’s opinion, therefore, the authors had brought the matter before the Committee even though proceedings were pending in the national courts.