254/02 : Mouvement des réfugiés mauritaniens au Sénégal pour la defense des droits de l'Homme / Senegal Summary of Facts 1. The Complainant alleges that on the eve of the demonstration by the refugees of Podor in commemoration of the International Refugee Day, the Prefect of the town of Podor banned the said demonstration. 2. The Complainant does not show whether he had complied with the necessary procedures to obtain authorisation for the demonstration. He however points out that he had sent the programme of the demonstration to the following institutions and persons: 3. African Commission; UN High Commissioner for Refugees; Commission for Assistance to Returnees and Displaced Persons; Governor of Saint-Louis; Prefect of Podor; Deputy Prefect of Thille Boubacar and the press. 3. The text of the decision of the Prefect of Podor banning the demonstration th which was scheduled to take place on Thursday 20 and Friday 21st June 2002 in the towns of th Madina Moussa, Diolly, Podor and Ngaolé was dated 19 June 2002, citing the need to keep law and order as the reason for this action. 4. The submission of the Complainant includes the programme of the demonstration sent to the th above mentioned institutions and persons, the decision of the Prefect of Podor dated 19 June 2002 th banning the demonstration scheduled to take place on Thursday 20 and Friday 21st June 2002 in towns of Madina Moussa, Diolly, Podor and Ngaolé. Complaint 5. The Complainant alleges that Senegal violated Articles 5, 9 and 11 of the African Charter. Procedure th 6. The communication was received at the Secretariat of the African Commission on 6 August 2002. th 7. On 12 August 2002, the Secretariat of the African Commission acknowledged receipt of the communication and informed the Complainant that the complaint was registered and would be nd th considered at the 32 Ordinary Session scheduled to take place in Banjul, The Gambia, from 17 to 31st October 2002. nd th rd 8. At the 32 Ordinary Session held from 17 to 23 October 2002 in Banjul, The Gambia, after considering the communication, the African Commission decided to be seized with the said communication. th 9. On 30 October 2002, the Secretariat of the African Commission informed the parties of the above-mentioned decision and asked them to provide it with more information on the admissibility of the communication, in accordance with Article 56 of the African Charter. It also sent a copy of the communication to the Respondent State. It requested the parties to send their written observations to the Secretariat within two months after notification of the decision. rd th th 10. At its 33 Ordinary Session held from 15 to 29 May 2003 in Niamey, Niger, the African Commission considered this communication and declared it inadmissible. Law Admissibility 11. The admissibility of the communications submitted under Article 55 of the African Charter is governed by the conditions set out in Article 56 of the African Charter. The applicable provision in this particular case is that of Article 56.5 which stipulates that: “communications….shall be considered if they: