..»,
ACHPR
African Commission on
Human and Peoples' Rights
Human Rights our
Collective Responsibility
Law Office ofGhazi Suleiman v. Sudani" and Media Rights Agenda v. Nigeria57
V Eihiopias"
to support her arguments.
146.
Article 7(1) (b) of the Charter provides that "e'very individual shall have the right
to be presumed
presumption
innocent
until proved guilty by a competent
court or tribunal".
The
of innocence until proven guilty by a competent court of law is a basic
principle under criminal-law and international human rights law which requires that
-
-
the accused person/
defendant is given the benefit'l;, :c:)f
the.doubt
;",
'~,'~ "
both before and
during the trial as well as outside and within.·~t4~ -trial, u\:?,l guilt or criminal
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responsibility is fully established by the cO~5t;:~ the Pr~~dpl~-~.'~:rid'Gl+i.9~lilJ~s
to a
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Fair Trial and Legal Assistance in Africa'i~~~e'Co
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";J~~\ioneXR~.upded orctlu{right of
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.
an accused person to be presumed innocenfiq:n~il prd$~¢nguilty by a competent court
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.
..
of law and stated that public o££j~ial§:'s~allmaint~i~:the presumption
of innocence of
the accused
about
person.
They-are
alloW~'d. to iJW~in;, the public
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:f ._;. '~:_ .
""\:'w~'~';~.~,
~i-'
criminal
.'
investigations or charges; but.shall not expr~ss,a view a1F~iPtheguilt of any suspect.f
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The UN Human Rights Committee.also expres~eq"a",/~iinilar position by stating that
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this obligation r,e'~uires allpublic cititho:rities to r~i~~in from prejudging the outcome
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.
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1,
of the tria1.59
147.
v'
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The Commission notes that the Respondent State had not responded to these
:'
allegations by challenging or otherwise its veracity. In the absence of such counter
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evidelfl~~~;'it:w.i.ll
make a'fiD:8-iiJ,g:basedon the facts before it. The Commission agrees
with t~~\2~~~~~ijJfqt
engage
that the presumption
of innocence requires the state not to
~ri':Rrt{:{~~~~ilv~:
~~blicity or statement or documentary against her with the
objective of-prejudging
the trial and determining her guilt before it ended. This has
,
"
been clearly ~~:q,F{datedby the Commission in Haregetooin Gebre-Sellaise & IHRDA (on
c'
behalfof former Dergue officials) v Ethiopia, and Law Office ofGhazi Suleiman v. Sudan and
55 Communication
No. 301/05 (7 November 2011).
No. 222/98-229/99 (3 May 2003), para. ,54
57 Communication No. 224/98 (6 November 2009), para. 48
56 Communication
421 P C1 g c
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Afric;an(4\}';)
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