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Tag: ECOWAS Court

  • ECOWAS Court Declares Twitter Ban Unlawful

    ECOWAS Court Declares Twitter Ban Unlawful

    The ECOWAS Court has declared unlawful the suspension of Twitter by the government of President Muhammadu Buhari, and ordered the administration not to repeat it again.

    This development is coming on the heels of a suit by Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) and 176 concerned Nigerians.

    Recall that following the deletion of President Muhammadu Buhari’s tweet, the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed announced the suspension of Twitter in Nigeria.

    The government also threatened to arrest and prosecute anyone using Twitter in the country, while the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) asked all broadcast stations to suspend the patronage of Twitter.

    But in the judgment delivered on Thursdays, the ECOWAS court declared that it had the jurisdiction to hear the case, and that the case was therefore admissible.

    The court ruled that suspending the operation of Twitter is unlawful and inconsistent with the provisions of Article 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights both of which Nigeria is a state party.

    “The Buhari administration in suspending the operations of Twitter violates the rights of SERAP and 176 concerned Nigerians to the enjoyment of freedom of expression, access to information and the media, as well as the right to a fair hearing,” the court ruled.

    It also ordered the Buhari-led administration to take necessary steps to align its policies and other measures to give effect to the rights and freedoms and to guarantee a non-repetition of the unlawful ban of Twitter.

    The ECOWAS court also ordered the government to bear the costs of the proceedings and directed the Deputy Chief Registrar to assess the costs accordingly.

  • ECOWAS Court Restrains FG from prosecuting Twitter users

    ECOWAS Court Restrains FG from prosecuting Twitter users

    The ECOWAS Court of Justice in Abuja has restrained the Federal Government from imposing sanctions or harassing, intimidating, arresting, or prosecuting Twitter.

    It also restricted the government from carrying out such actions against any other social media service provider, as well as media houses, pending the hearing and determination of a suit challenging the government’s suspension of Twitter operations in Nigeria.

    The court gave the restraining order after hearing arguments from parties in a suit filed by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) and 176 concerned Nigerians.

    Human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, represented the plaintiffs while a legal practitioner, Maimuna Shiru, represented the government.

    According to the court, interference with Twitter is a violation of human rights and the Nigerian government must take immediate steps to implement the order.

    It stressed the need to hear the matter as soon as possible and adjourned until July 6, 2021, for the hearing of the substantive suit.

    In the suit, the applicants argued that the suspension of Twitter by the government and criminalisation of Nigerians and others using the social media platform has escalated repression of human rights and unlawfully restricted the rights of citizens and others to freedom of expression, access to information, and media freedom in the country.

    This followed the suspension of Twitter by the Federal Government after the social media giant deleted a tweet by President Muhammadu Buhari.

    Thereafter, the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) ordered television and radio stations to suspend the patronage of Twitter immediately.

    The plaintiffs, in the suit marked ECW/CCJ/APP/23/21, sought an order of interim injunction restraining the Federal Government from implementing its suspension of Twitter in Nigeria, and subjecting anyone, including media houses and broadcast stations using Twitter in Nigeria to harassment, intimidation, arrest, and criminal prosecution, pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit.

  • ECOWAS Court to deliver judgment on herdsmen killings

    ECOWAS Court to deliver judgment on herdsmen killings

    The ECOWAS Court of Justice, Abuja has fixed April 22, 2021 to deliver judgment in a case on killings, raping, maiming of Nigerians and other residents, and destruction of property across Nigeria by suspected herdsmen.

    The court heard arguments in the case brought by Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) against the Federal Government on Friday.

    The Court adjourned the suit after hearing arguments from Solicitor to SERAP, Femi Falana, SAN, and the government lawyer, Mr Adedayo Ogundele.

    In the suit No ECW/CCJ/APP/15/16, SERAP is seeking justice and accountability for the authorities’ failure to prevent, account for and investigate killings, raping, maiming of Nigerians and other residents, and destruction of property across the country by herdsmen and other unknown perpetrators.

    The suit read in part, “SERAP also contends that the obligation to secure the right to life is not confined to cases where it has been established that the killings were caused by an agent of the State. Nor is it decisive whether those affected or their families have lodged a formal complaint about the killings with the competent investigatory authority.

    “It is contended that the mere knowledge of the killings by the military, police, herdsmen and other unknown perpetrators on the part of the authorities have ipso facto given rise to an obligation under Article 4 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights to carry out an effective investigation into the circumstances surrounding the killings and to identify the perpetrators and bring them to justice, and to provide reparations to victims.”

    SERAP also contends that “the Defendant has a positive obligation to take measures to secure the right to life, right to security and dignity of the human person and right to property, and to prevent attacks and killings by the military, police, herdsmen and other unknown perpetrators across Nigeria.

    “Human life has a special value and dignity which requires legal protection. It should be pointed out that those affected in the present case include the most disadvantaged and vulnerable sectors of society.”

    “A fundamental notion of contemporary human rights law is that victims of violations enjoy an independent right to effective remedies. This idea is itself founded on another longstanding legal principle: ubi ius ibi remedium (there is no right without a remedy).”

    SERAP, therefore, is asking the ECOWAS Court of Justice for “an order directing the Defendant and/or its agents individually and/or collectively to provide effective remedies and reparation, including adequate compensation, restitution, satisfaction or guarantees of non-repetition that the Honourable Court may deem fit to grant to the victims of attacks by the military, police, herdsmen and other unknown perpetrators.

  • ECOWAS Court orders Senegal to pay 50m CFA to Belgian woman

    ECOWAS Court orders Senegal to pay 50m CFA to Belgian woman

    The ECOWAS Court has ordered the Republic of Senegal to pay 50 million CFA francs (about N8.3 billion) as compensation to a Belgian, Mrs Lays Ghislaine, for violation of her right to liberty while in detention in the country prior to her extradition five years ago.

    Delivering judgment, Justice Januaria Costa held the Republic of Senegal is liable for violation of Ghislaine’s right to liberty.

    The court however held that the State did not infringe on her right to dignity, the second plea made in the initiation application.

    In a statement issued on Wednesday by the media unit of the Court, the Community Court of Justice also dismissed other reliefs sought by the Applicant, declaring them unfounded.

    Ghislaine had in her initiating application in suit no. ECW/CCJ/APP/01/19 filed January 7, 2020, alleged she was arbitrarily arrested in September 2015 in furtherance of an international arrest warrant issued by a Belgian court and detained in prison by agents of the Respondent during which she was subjected to degrading treatment in the course of her extradition to Belgium.

    The Applicant added that the process for her extradition exceeded the stipulated 30 days period provided for in the Senegalese law relating to extradition.

    She averred that although the order for her extradition was issued on June 14, 2016, she was eventually extradited on Nov. 24, 2016 in contravention of Senegal’s law that provided that the victim if not extradited within 30 days should be released.

    Her counsel, Mr Assane Ndiaye, claimed that his client also endured hunger strike and was wrongly diagnosed of cancer with the attendant fear and anxiety’

    She therefore sought orders of the court declaring the Respondent liable for the violations, and the payment of 500 Million CFA francs as reparation, as well as the cost of litigation.

    In response, the respondent did not counter the claims of the applicant on the applicable law concerning extradition but argued that the Applicant provided no evidence to back her claims of being detained beyond the stipulated time.

    The respondent further argued that the hunger strike embarked on by the Applicant took place during the legal period of detention and that the medical report carried out by a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) only suspected cancer.

    The counsel added that the applicant did not prove how the disease was directly or indirectly related to her detention.

    Also on the panel were Justices Gberi-Be Ouattara and Dupe Atoki.

    In another suit, the court absolved the government of the Republic of Senegal of violation of the rights of  another Senegalese, Mr Siny Dieng, who was tried and sentenced for money laundering and the funds seized by the government.

    In the judgment also delivered by the Justice Costa, the court rejected the claim of the applicant that the trial and seizure of the estimated 100 million CFA, based on the order of a court violated his right to fair hearing and property as guaranteed by various legal texts cited in the initiating application in suit no ECW/CCJ/APP/50/19.