Côte d'Ivoire distances itself from the African Court of Human Rights

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Côte d'Ivoire withdraws its declaration of recognition of the jurisdiction of the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights. Concretely, by no longer recognizing this competence, Côte d'Ivoire prevents individuals or NGOs from lodging complaints directly before the Court. If it remains a member of the African Court, Côte d'Ivoire becomes the 4th country to withdraw its declaration of jurisdiction, after Benin, Rwanda and Tanzania.

Publicity

With our correspondent in Abidjan, Pierre Pinto

The decision was made on Tuesday. And it is the direct consequence of the judgment of the African Court rendered on April 22, which ordered the suspension of the arrest warrant against Guillaume Soro and the provisional release of his 19 supporters. The Court had notably estimated that six months before the presidential election, "  the execution of arrest and deposit warrants against political figures [...] risks seriously compromising the exercise of the applicants  ' political rights and freedoms ".

For Ally Coulibaly, acting Minister of Foreign Affairs, this judgment of the African Court is "  political  " and "  unacceptable  ". This reaction of the Ivorian government is therefore a question of sovereignty, according to him. “  Regardless of our detractors, Côte d'Ivoire is the rule of law. All citizens can seize the courts throughout the territory. And our justice is impartial. What will our courts be for, if an ordinary citizen can go to the African Court of Human Rights when there are possibilities that we offer at the national level.  "

Of the 30 States parties to the African Court of Human Rights, 10 had initially agreed to recognize its jurisdiction. But four have therefore backtracked today, including Côte d'Ivoire.

"  This withdrawal will deprive Ivorian individuals and NGOs of a precious legal recourse,  " deplores Amnesty International, which considers that this announcement comes "  in a pre-electoral context where the Ivorian government has multiplied the attacks against political opponents and dissident voices.  " 

The withdrawal from Côte d'Ivoire will be effective in a year. It does not call into question the decisions of the African Court, already rendered. A court whose decisions, moreover, struggle to be applied for lack of tools to ensure the application of its recommendations, point observers.

For the time being, the mechanisms to bring a State to reason and respect its commitments are not functional. (…) And the Court is not equipped to go and check whether this or that decision has been respected or not. We are in a very difficult situation, where the Court can only act when the victim informs the Court that a decision has been made or not.

Pope Ibrahima Kane

Bineta Diagne

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• Ivory Coast
• Justice
• Human rights
• International justice

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