Hearing on a case in
which the jailed opposition politician Victorie Ingabire is challenging
her country’s Judiciary at the African Court has been halted after
Rwanda ditched the judicial body’s protocol that allows individual and
NGOs top file cases there.
The
case was set for hearing starting today but reliable sources at the
African Court on Human and People’s Rights (AfCHPR) confided to The
Citizen that the case cannot be heard because Rwanda, the defendant, is
not longer a signatory to the legal instrument that allowed individuals
and NGOs to file a case before it.
Efforts
to reach the President of the Court Judge Augustine Ramadhani or the
Court Registrar to comment on the development were futile yesterday.
Rwanda government officials who have been attending East African
Community (EAC) meetings in Arusha declined comment.
A
senior official of the Court told this newspaper that information on
Rwanda’s apparent ditching of the legal instrument was communicated to
AfCHPR only this week, days before hearing of the high profile case
begins at its chambers in Arusha.
The
case was scheduled for hearing beginning today alongside another
application by a Cote d’Ivoire human rights protection body which is
challenging their country’s government for alleged violation of human
rights to civil society groups.
The
Court official intimated that Rwanda’s pull out means the opposition
politician who is serving a 15 year jail sentence would not be heard as
the country was no longer a signatory to the protocol which allowed its
individuals to file an application before the African judicial body.
Incidentally,
Rwanda has been one of the eight countries, including Tanzania, that
has made a Declaration required under Article 34 (6) of the African
Court protocol that allow individuals and NGOs to bring cases directly
before the Court.
Without
such declaration the Court would have no jurisdiction over cases
brought by individuals and NGOs. Other countries are Burkina Faso, Cote
d’Ivoire, Mali, Ghana,Malawi and lately Benin
Source:Citizen
