Rights is equally applicable to the Defendant to ensure effective investigations
into the murder.
The plaintiffs claim the Defendant has violated both the right to life and the
freedom of expression as provided for in the ACHPR and the Revised Treaty. We
propose to examine the issues now in the same way that they were set out in the
application.
To begin with, the plaintiffs claim the Defendant did not conduct diligent and
effective investigations into the murder of Deyda Hydara Senior. It is a question of
fact whether or not the Defendant conducted effective investigations. We must
p int out that there are no hard and fast rules as to what constitute proper,
effective or diligent investigations, or by whatever name one may choose to call
it. However, from an objective standpoint and given the circumstances of each
case, one should be able to say that the investigative agencies have performed
.
their duty as required. Subjective analysis will not be proper.
,
In · this case the State Police was the first to commence the investigations.
Subsequently the N lA took over the investigations and issued a report on or about
21 February 2005, some two months after the murder. Since then no other
investigations have been carried out. But one striking feature of the investigation
which is baffling is the fact that the investigations carried out no ballistic tests on
the bullets on the victims' body and on the weapons recovered from one of the
suspects Wally Hakim who was invited for interrogation. Here is a murder
committed with a gun so common sense will dictate that every gun recovered will
be· examined vis-a-vis the bullets recovered from the victim to see whether the
bullets could have b5=en fired
from
the gun recovered. Without a ballistic
examination one could not conclude that a proper investigation :had been carried
out. In the circumstances of this case every gun recovered from every suspect was
bound to be ·subjected to thorough and critical examination to assure the victims'
family and the general public that the investigations were not seeking to protect
anybody.
Besides when the two eye witnesses were on admission in hospital the report
indicates there was an attempt to interrogate them by persons who bore or
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