Viking and Another v United Republic of Tanzania

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.

Holding

The Court awarded the first Applicant TZS 20,000,000 and the second Applicant TZS 5,000,000 as compensation for moral prejudice resulting from violations of their right to defence under Article 7(1)(c) of the African Charter. Claims for material loss, moral prejudice to indirect victims, and costs were dismissed for lack of proof. The Court ordered the Respondent State to publish both the merits and reparations judgments on official government websites for at least one year as a measure of satisfaction.

Outcome

Applicants awarded compensation for moral prejudice; claims for material loss and indirect victims dismissed; Respondent State ordered to publish judgments and report on implementation

Facts

The Applicants, musicians, were convicted of rape and unnatural acts and sentenced to life imprisonment in Tanzania. In a judgment on merits dated 23 March 2018, the African Court found that Tanzania violated their right to defence under Article 7(1)(c) of the African Charter by failing to provide copies of witness statements, failing to call material witnesses, and failing to facilitate the first Applicant to conduct a test as to his impotence. The Applicants were subsequently released. They filed this application for reparations seeking compensation for material loss (including loss of income, disrupted music careers, sale of family house to pay legal fees), moral prejudice for themselves and family members, and various non-pecuniary remedies. The Applicants claimed they suffered health problems including hypertension, diabetes and tuberculosis during imprisonment, and that their reputations were damaged by media coverage of the rape charges.

Issues

1. Whether the Applicants are entitled to pecuniary reparations for material loss including loss of income, life plan, and legal fees incurred at national courts.
2. Whether the Applicants are entitled to compensation for moral prejudice suffered as a result of the violations found in the judgment on merits.
3. Whether indirect victims (family members and dependants of the Applicants) are entitled to compensation for moral prejudice.
4. Whether the Respondent State should be ordered to provide guarantees of non-repetition of the violations.
5. What measures of satisfaction should be ordered.
6. Whether the Applicants are entitled to costs incurred in proceedings before the Court.

Orders

• Does not grant the Applicants' prayer for material damages for loss of income, life plan and legal fees at the national courts.
• Does not grant the Applicants' prayer for damages for moral prejudice suffered by the indirect victims.
• Grants the Applicants' prayer for damages for the moral prejudice they suffered and awards the first Applicant the sum of Tanzanian Shillings Twenty Million (TZS 20,000,000) and the second Applicant the sum of Tanzanian Shillings Five Million (TZS 5,000,000).
• Orders the Respondent State to pay the amounts indicated free from taxes, effective six (6) months from the date of notification of this Judgment, failing which it will pay interest on arrears calculated on the basis of the applicable rate of the Central Bank of the United Republic of Tanzania throughout the period of delayed payment until the amount is fully paid.
• Does not grant the Applicant's prayer for an order regarding non-repetition of the violations.
• Orders the Respondent State to publish, as a measure of satisfaction, this judgment on reparations and the judgment of 23 March 2018 on the merits of the case within three (3) months of notification of the present judgment on the official websites of the Judiciary and the Ministry of Constitutional and Legal Affairs and ensure that the judgments remain accessible for at least one (1) year after the date of such publication.
• Orders the Respondent State to submit to it within six (6) months of the date of notification of this judgment, a report on measures taken to implement the orders set forth herein and thereafter, every six (6) months until the court considers that there has been full implementation thereof.
• Decides that each Party shall bear its own costs.

Rules and key headnotes

Legislation cited (9)

• Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Establishment of an African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights Article 22
• Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Establishment of an African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights Article 27(1)
• Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Establishment of an African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights Article 30
• 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)
• African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights Article 1
• African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights Article 7(1)(c)
• Rules of Court Rule 1(2)
• Rules of Court Rule 30
• Rules of Court Rule 63

Cases cited (11)

• Ingabire Victoire Umuhoza v Republic of Rwanda (Jurisdiction) (2016) 1 AfCLR 540
• Alex Thomas v United Republic of Tanzania (Reparations) Application No. 005/2013
• Mohamed Abubakari v Tanzania
• Wilfred Onyango v. Tanzania
• Lucien Ikili v Tanzania
• Ingabire Umuhoza v Republic of Rwanda (Reparations) (2018) 2 AfCLR 202
• Tanganyika Law Society and Legal and Human Rights Centre v Tanzania and Reverend Christopher R. Mtikila v Tanzania (Consolidated Applications 009/2011 and 011/2011) (Reparations) (2014) 1 AfCLR 72
• Lohé Issa Konate v Burkina Faso
• Norbert Zongo et al. v Burkina Faso
• Armand Guehi v United Republic of Tanzania (Merits and Reparations) 2 AfCLR 477
• Aslakhanoya v Russia

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