Bamenda with motor vehicles and other vehicles for the maintenance of law and order and equipment
adapted to deal with the situation on the ground. However, although the post electoral disturbances
had taken place in other parts of the territory, these incidents had been extraordinarily violent in
Bamenda where they took the form of a generalized insurrection and had been instigated by the
militants of an Opposition Party, the Social Democratic Front (SDF).
82. Moreover, the Respondent State contends that:
1. Following the destruction, a joint Gendarmerie-Police-Justice Commission had been set up and
given the responsibility for carrying out investigations on all suspects who had been arrested.
However, the individuals who were given heavy charges and had been brought before the State
security Court had later been released on the persistent request of the human rights defender
organizations.
2. That it happened that the State of Cameroon, having steadfastly implemented the legal,
technical, human and material resources at its disposal to contain the post electoral events of
Bamenda in 1992, it was thus freed from the obligation of diligence which was its responsibility.
The extent of the events in question having the character of force majeure was such that they
could not be attributed to the State of Cameroon.
3. That in view of the full compensation being demanded by the complainants, it should be
recalled that the responsibility of the State of Cameroon could not be established in either the
unexpected happening of the Bamenda events, or in their management. Consequently, it would
be extremely difficult to pay compensation since there is no law which authorizes this sort of
payment particularly where the State is not the perpetrator in any way.
4. That in relation to the enactment of a law allowing the payment of fair and equitable
compensation to the victims of the human rights violations in Cameroon, following the
unexpected happening of the events in question, the following institutions had been
successively put in place:
o An organization for political dialogue at the national level called the Tripartite and
comprising the State, Civil Society and the Political Parties. This Tripartite had made
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possible the realization of the constitutional amendments of 18 January 1996.
o A Committee then a National Human Rights and Liberties Commission;
o A National Elections Observatory and the strengthening of the National
Communications Council.
5. That taking all these matters into consideration and with all the proper reservations, the African
Commission should declare the present communication baseless.
Analysis of the Commission with regard to the nature and scope of the obligation conatained
in Article 1 of the African Charter
83. It follows from the arguments of the facts and the law presented by the complainant party and
responded to by the Respondent Party, that the nature and the scope of the obligation contained
in Article 1 of the African Charter constitute a matter of special importance in the present
communication. Thus, according to the complainant party, Article 1 of the African Charter imposes an
obligation on the States Parties to take measures which can produce concrete results. Whereas it can
be inferred from the arguments submitted by the Respondent Party that the provisions of Article 1 of
the African Charter impose an obligation of diligence on the States Parties.
84. It is therefore up to the African Commission to clarify the nature and scope of this article. It is
evident that the legal aspect raised by the argument of the two parties present before the African
Commission relates to the question whether Article 1 of the African Charter imposes an obligation of
diligence or an obligation of result vis-à-vis the States Parties to the said Charter. In other words, did
the States Parties to the African Charter make the commitment of taking measures which should give
certain results by virtue of Article 1?