AFRICAN a UNION UNION AFRICAINE ala UNIAO AFRICANA AFRICAN COURT ON HUMAN AND PEOPLES’ RIGHTS COUR AFRICAINE DES DROITS DE L’HOMME ET DES PEUPLES Frank D. Omary and others v, The United Republic of Tanzania (Application No. 001/2012) Separate Opinion of Judge Fatsah Ouguergouz 1. Though | am also in favour of rejecting the application filed by Mr. Frank David Omary and others against the United Republic of Tanzania, I am of the view that the Court ought to have declared that it does not have jurisdiction ratione temporis to deal with the alleged violations of human rights drawn from the non-payment of the totality of their pension and severance benefits and that consequently, it ought to have considered the admissibility of the application only with regard to the alleged violations of the rights of the Applicants in relation to the police brutalities which are said to have taken place after the reading of the judgment of the High Court of Tanzania on 23 May 2011. The only preliminary issue that will be dealt with here will therefore be the temporal jurisdiction of the Court. 2. The Respondent State deposited its instruments of ratification of the Charter and of the Protocol on 9 March 1984 and 10 February 2006, respectively; it deposited the optional declaration of compulsory jurisdiction of the Court on 9 March 2010. It is therefore this latter date which is critical in determining the jurisdiction of the Court to hear cases of violation under the Charter or any other relevant human rights instrument ratified by the Respondent State. 3. Consequently, if the Court is seized of an individual application against the Respondent State, which alleges the violation of a right founded on facts which occurred before 9 March 2010, it does not in principle have jurisdiction to deal with such an allegation. NaS