247/02 : Institute for Human Rights and Development in Africa (on
behalf of Jean Simbarkiye) / DRC
Summary of Facts
1. The Complainant, Mr Jean Simbarakiye, is a national of Burundi currently a refugee in Lomé,
Togo.
2. He is assisted by the Institute for Human Rights and Development in Africa, an NGO with observer
status with the African Commission, with its head office at P.O. Box 1896, Banjul, The Gambia, tel.
220 962280/954131, fax: 220 49 41 78, e-mail:info@africaninstitute.org,
Website: www.africaninstitute.org
3. Mr Jean Simbarakiye states that:
4. He arrived in Zaire, now Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), in 1974 where he obtained the
status of political refugee granted and recognised by the Republic of Zaire and the UN High
Commission[er] for Refugees.
5. He did his university studies there up to 1984 and, in 1989, he was employed as a civil electrical
engineer by Office National[e] des Transports (ONATRA) for and on behalf of the State of Zaire.
6. In 1996, following the war between the DRC and Burundi, Uganda and Rwanda in the east of the
country, the Haut Conseil de la République, i.e. the Transitional Parliament, during its session held on
31st October 1996, adopted Resolution No. 04/HCR6PT/96 by which it was decided to “terminate work
contracts for all Rwandan, Burundian and Ugandan subjects…”.
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7. Pursuant to this decision, Mr Jean Simbarakiye was dismissed on 3 January 1997, without
[neither] prior notice nor compensation, by ONATRA, for the sole reason of being of Burundi origin.
8. He has three children, and his wife is a Congolese (DRC) national.
9. The communication also alleges that from January 1997, when he was dismissed without prior
notice or compensation, to June 1997, when he left DRC, Mr Simbarakiye made numerous but
unsuccessful attempts to obtain justice by approaching the Congolese authorities.
10. Due to moral and material pressure, he was forced to leave DRC in June 1997 and took refuge in
Lomé, Togo, where he continued enjoying the status of refugee, without having exhausted local
remedies.
11. He continued his contacts with the Chargé d’Affaires of DRC in Lomé and, through him, sent a
letter on 21st February 2000 to the Minister of Justice of DRC but, all in all, all his efforts, just like
those of his wife after he left DRC in June 1997 till her own departure for Lomé in 2000, were
[fruitless].
Complaint
12. The communication alleges [that] Resolution No. 4 of the Haut Conseil de la République, the
Transitional Parliament of the DRC violates : Articles 1, 2, 3, 7, 14, 15 and 18 of the African Charter.
Procedure
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13. The communication was received by the Secretariat of the African Commission on 3 April 2002,
which acknowledged receipt of the same to Counsel of the Complainant, the Institute for Human
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Rights and Development on 4 April 2002.
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14. At its 31st Ordinary Session held in Pretoria, South Africa, from 2 to 16 May 2002, the African
Commission decided to be seized of the communication and referred consideration of the admissibility
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of the case to its 32 Ordinary Session.
15. The Secretariat informed the concerned parties through a Note Verbale and a letter dated
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27 June 2002. In response, the Complainant, through his counsel, filed his submissions on the
admissibility of the communication, which were received at the Secretariat of the African Commission
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on 12 of August 2002.