App. 047/2020_ Adama Diarra vs Mali
Adama Diarra vs Republic of Mali
On December 1st, 2020, Mr. Adama Diarra (the Applicant) filed an Application instituting proceedings against the Republic of Mali (the defendant State) before the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (the Court or the ACHPR) for alleged violations of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (the Charter) in Articles 6 and 8.
The applicant claims to have been placed under a warrant of committal by order of the Deputy Public Prosecutor at the High Court of Commune III of Bamako. The applicant’s deprivation of liberty followed a joint complaint filed by Mali’s two magistrates’ unions for contempt of court and insults. Mr. Diarra filed requests for provisional release, the examination of which resulted in the interlocutory judgment No. 25 of provisional release of January 27th, 2021 against which the prosecutor’s office appealed. The matter has not yet been tried.
The applicant accompanied his initial application with a request for the indication of provisional measures aimed, inter alia, at his release. The respondent State considered that the provisional measures sought were not founded in law. In its Order of March 29th, 2021, the Court rejected the applicant’s request, concluding that this would amount to a ruling on the merits of the case.
Mali raised objections regarding the jurisdiction and inadmissibility of the Application. After examining the pleas in law, the Court held that it had jurisdiction to hear the case. With regard to admissibility, it examined in turn all the criteria listed in Rule 50 of the Rules of Court and concluded that the application was inadmissible to the extent that domestic remedies had not been exhausted.
This summary is provided for informational purposes only, does not involve the responsibility of Dome and should in no way be used as a substitute for a careful reading of the judgment and order of the case.
