ARUSHA: D-Day for African court’s AU case judgment

Written by MARC NKWAME in Arusha.

THE African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights will Friday deliver judgment in respect of Application 014/2001 pitting Atabong Denis Atemnkeng versus The African Union.

The case concerns the validity of Article 34 (6) of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights on the establishment of an African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights. The Applicant in this matter, Mr Atabong Denis Atemnkeng, a Cameroonian and regular staff member of the African Union Commission, alleges that Article 34 (6) of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights on the Establishment of an African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights should be declared null and void, as it is contrary to the African Union Constitutive Act and the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights.

The plaintiff maintains that as a result, there is obstruction to justice and the rule of law, promotes impunity as it excludes sections of African Citizenry from access to justice by placing human rights abusers above the law. In response to the allegations of the applicant, the respondent raised a preliminary objection arguing that Mr Atabong Denis Atemnkeng is not entitled to submit cases to the Court in terms of Article 34 (6) and that the African Union is not a State Party to the Protocol and cannot be made to account for treaties adopted, signed and ratified by sovereign States.

The Applicant is represented by Chief Charles Taku while the Respondent is represented by the legal counsel of the African Union. On the same day, the court will issue an order in respect of Application No 006/2012: The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights versus The Republic of Kenya, following a Request for provisional measures demanded by the applicant.

The applicant alleges that the Kenyan government, through the Kenya Forestry Service, has demanded the Ogiek Community and other settlers of the Mau Forest to move out on the grounds that the forest constituted a reserved water catchment zone and was in any event part and parcel of government land under section 4 of the Government Land Act.

In that regard, the applicant requests for imposition of provisional measures to stop the government from evicting the Ogiek community and other settlers of the Mau Forest following a 30 days eviction notice issued by the government of Kenya in October 2009 and related statements made by different Kenyan political authorities. The applicant submits that the eviction would have far reaching implications on the political, social and economic survival of the Ogiek Community and that it may result in irreparable harm to the victims.

Source: Daily News (15/03/2013): http://dailynews.co.tz/index.php/local-news/15506-d-day-for-african-court-s-au-case-judgment