Wakilii

Soro and Others v Republic of Cote D'Ivoire (Application No. 012-2020)

African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights · [2025] AfCHPR 24 · 2025 Application Dismissed AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Application to the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights alleging human rights violations in connection with criminal proceedings during the 2020 elections in Côte d'Ivoire
Decision
Application declared inadmissible for failure to exhaust local remedies

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

Citator coverage is limited to judgments in the Wakilii corpus and source-matched treatment records. Absence of a signal is not an assertion that the case remains good law.

AI-generated summary. This summary was generated by AI from the full text of the judgment. It may contain errors or omissions—always read the source judgment before relying on it.

Holding

The African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights held that it had jurisdiction to hear the application filed before Côte d'Ivoire's withdrawal of its Article 34(6) declaration became effective. However, the Court declared the application inadmissible for non-exhaustion of local remedies, as domestic criminal proceedings were ongoing at the time the applicants seized the Court.

Outcome

Application declared inadmissible for failure to exhaust local remedies

Facts

Guillaume Kigbafori Soro announced his candidature for the October 2020 presidential election in Côte d'Ivoire. Between 23 and 31 December 2019, several applicants were arrested on instructions of the public prosecutor. On 23 December 2019, Soro's plane was compelled to land in Accra, Ghana, due to security forces deployed at Abidjan airport. The same day, the Abidjan Court of First Instance announced a judicial investigation against Soro and others for embezzlement of public funds, money laundering, and attempted subversion of State authority, based on alleged acts dating back to 2007 when Soro was Prime Minister. An arrest warrant was issued for Soro. Other applicants were arrested, interrogated without legal assistance, and detained. On 26 December 2019 and 7 February 2020, their lawyers appealed for annulment of the arrest warrant before the investigative chamber of the Abidjan Court of Appeal. The applicants filed this application on 2 March 2020 while domestic proceedings were ongoing.

Issues

  1. Whether the Court has jurisdiction to hear the Application despite the Respondent State's withdrawal of its declaration under Article 34(6) of the Protocol.
  2. Whether the Application is admissible where local remedies have not been exhausted.
  3. Whether the Respondent State violated the Applicants' rights to equality before the law, liberty and security of person, fair trial, freedom of movement, and moral health of the family.

Orders

  • Declares that it has jurisdiction to hear the Application.
  • Declares the Application inadmissible for non-exhaustion of local remedies.
  • Decides that each party shall bear its own costs.

Rules and key headnotes

Jurisdiction — Withdrawal of Article 34(6) Declaration — Temporal Effect
The withdrawal of a State's declaration under Article 34(6) of the Protocol to the African Charter has no retroactive effect and does not affect cases filed before the deposit of the instrument of withdrawal or new cases filed before the withdrawal becomes effective one year after deposit.
Admissibility — Exhaustion of Local Remedies — Premature Filing
An application is inadmissible where it is filed while domestic judicial proceedings are ongoing and local remedies have not been exhausted. The requirement of exhaustion of local remedies seeks to afford States, through their domestic judicial systems, the opportunity to prevent or remedy violations before an international body is seized.
Admissibility — Ongoing Criminal Investigation — Exhaustion of Remedies
Where a criminal investigation is ongoing and an investigating chamber is empowered to terminate any irregularity by vacating proceedings initiated by an investigating judge, an appeal to that chamber constitutes an effective remedy that must be exhausted before seizing an international court.
Default Judgment — Requirements — Court's Discretion
A court may render judgment by default where three requirements are met: notification of the application and all pertinent documents to the respondent; failure by the respondent to appear or file a response; and a request by the other party or a decision of the court of its own motion. The court is empowered to render judgment by default suo motu where the interest of justice so requires.

Legislation cited (19)

  • African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights Article 3
  • African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights Article 6
  • African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights Article 7(1)(a)
  • African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights Article 7(1)(b)
  • African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights Article 7(1)(c)
  • African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights Article 7(1)
  • African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights Article 12
  • African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights Article 18(1)
  • African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights Article 18(2)
  • African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights Article 56
  • Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Establishment of an African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights Article 3
  • Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Establishment of an African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights Article 6(2)
  • Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Establishment of an African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights Article 34(6)
  • International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights Article 2
  • International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights Article 9(1)
  • International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights Article 14
  • International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights Article 23
  • Ivorian Code of Criminal Procedure Article 239(1)
  • Law No. 2018-975 of 27 December 2018 on the Code of Criminal Procedure Articles 97, 133 and 140

Cases cited (10)

  • Kouadio Kobena Fory v Republic of Côte d'Ivoire (Merits and Reparations) (2 December 2021)
  • Suy Bi Gohoré Émile and Others v Republic of Côte d'Ivoire (Merits and Reparations) (15 July 2020)
  • Léon Mugesera v Republic of Rwanda (Judgment) (27 November 2020)
  • Alex Thomas v United Republic of Tanzania (Merits) (20 November 2015)
  • Kouassi Kouamé Patrice and Baba Sylla v Republic of Côte d'Ivoire (Application No. 015/2021)
  • African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights v Republic of Kenya (Merits) (26 May 2017)
  • Houngue Eric Noudehouenou v Republic of Benin (4 December 2020)
  • Komi Koutché v Republic of Benin (Jurisdiction and Admissibility) (25 June 2021)
  • Yacouba Traoré v Republic of Mali (Jurisdiction and Admissibility) (25 September 2020)
  • Safinaz Ben Ali and Lamia Jendoubi v Republic of Tunisia (Application No. 009/2023)

Full judgment

↓ Download PDF

The original judgment as reported. Read the original PDF before relying on any passage.

Soro and Others v Republic of Cote D'Ivoire (Application No. 012-2020) [2025] AfCHPR 24 (26 June 2025)
Source: this page presents Wakilii’s issue analysis and metadata for a publicly reported Ugandan judgment. Any AI-generated summary is marked as such. Judgment text is sourced from the Uganda Legal Information Institute (ulii.org). Wakilii is not affiliated with ULII.