that these factors did not amount to a reasonable justification for the lapse of
time.
109.ln relation to the State's submission that the Complainant left of his own .free
will, the Complainant submits that this is irrelevant, the relevant factor being
that the Complainant was residing in another country, and that the Commission
had in the past held that 11 months after relocation was reasonable. The
Complainant sets out the process which he had followed to bring the Complaint
before the Commission in order to stress the difficulties in communicating in
Africa and the fact that his representatives were based in a different country.
The Complainant submits that further factors which the Commission should
take into account in determining the timeliness include the political instability
in the Respondent State at the time, as evidenced by the declaration of the state
of emergence and the lack of evidence submitted by the State to show that it
suffered prejudice because of the time taken in filing the Communication.
110. The Commission has held in its jurisprudence that the purpose of the
requirement under Article 56(6) is to require the Complainant to "be vigilant
and to discourage tardiness." 39 In addition, where there is a delay, the
Complainant has to provide reasons 40 and these must be a "good and
compelling reason" which requires the African Commission to consider the case
in the interests of fairness and justice. 41 In Obe1t Chinhamo v Zimbabwe the
Complainant stated that the delay in submitting the case to the Commission was
due to the fact that he needed to settle in his new country, and in this case the
Commission considered that ten months, where the Complainant was now in
another country, would "for the sake of fairness and justice" be considered to
be reasonable. 42
111.On the submissions by the Complainant as to the reasons for the delay, it is
clear that it cannot be said that he was being tardy, since he provides strong
justifications for the delay, including his resettlement in a dilierent country, his
mental state during this time, as well as the relative difficulty posed by
communicating with his legal representatives who were in a different country.
The Commission takes note of the point raised by the State that the Complainant
had been in the country for tvvo months after his release and then left his country
of his own free will, but does not see how this would make the period within
which the Complaint was submitted unreasonable. Since his legal
representatives were not in his country of origin, he would have faced the same
39 Communication 310/ 05 -
Darfur Relief and Documentation Centre v Sudan, para 78.
~
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thers v Tanzania, 26 May
40 Communication 333/ 06 - Soutlzcrn Africa Human Rights N
2010, para 76.
41 Communication 310/ 05 : Darfur Relief and Documenta
Communication 375/09 - Priscilla Njeri Eclmria (represe
ln fem ational Center for the Protection of Human Rights) v.
42 Communication 307/05 - Obert Chinhamo v Zimbabwe,
vember 2009, para 78;
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