communication on behalf of a Cameroonian child, TFA, whose rights under the Charter has
been violated by the Government of Cameroon.
23. The Committee notes that the communication explicitly states the names of the authors as
Non-Governmental Organizations recognized by Member States of the African Union; and
the complaint is submitted on behalf of a Cameroonian child, TFA who is living in the
Respondent State. In addition, the Committee notes that the complainants have proficiently
proved that the submission is made in the best interests of the victim. Therefore, the
Committee holds the view that the Complainants have complied with Section 1, (1) of the
Revised Communication Guidelines.
ii.
Requirements as to Form
24. The complainant submitted that the present communication satisfies the requirement of form
as set out in Section 2 (2) of the Revised Communication Guidelines, which states that a
Communication can only be considered by the Committee if it is not anonymous, it is written
in one of the official languages of the Committee, it concerns a State signatory to the
Charter and it is duly signed by the complainant or her/his representatives. In this regard,
the Committee is of the view that the Author of the Communication has been identified and
relevant details of the Communication have been provided to the Committee. The
Communication submitted is written in English and French which are the Official languages
of the Committee and it is made against a State Party to the Charter. Therefore, the
Committee concludes that the complainants have complied with the requirement as to form
as laid down in the Communication Guidelines in this regard.
iii.
Requirements as to Content
25. Laying down requirements as to content, Section IX (1) (A) of the Revised Communication
Guidelines prescribes that a Communication has to be compatible with the provisions of the
Constitutive Act of the African Union or with the Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the
Child. The complainants submitted that this condition is satisfied since the Communication is
presented pursuant to Article 44 of the African Children‟s Charter in order to strengthen the
observance of the ACRWC‟s provisions in Cameroon and to contribute to the establishment
of a vibrant, legally coherent African children‟s rights regime. The Committee notes that the
communication is compatible with the Constitutive Act of the AU and the Charter as it
concerns violations of the provisions of the Charter. In this regard, the Committee makes
reference to the Decision of the African Commission on Human and Peoples‟ Rights (the
Commission/ACHPR) in the case on Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum v Zimbabwe1
which sets the jurisprudence that for the content of the Communications to be considered
compatible with the concerned instrument, it is suffice to prove that the Complainant invokes
provisions of the particular law which are presumed to have been violated. Therefore, it is the
Committee‟s position that the Communication meets the requirements under Section IX (1)
(a) of the Revised Communications Guidelines.
26. The Committee also notes that the communication is presented in a professional, polite and
respectful language, making it compatible with Section IX (1) (F) of the Revised
Communication Guidelines.
27. Pursuant to Section IX (1) (B) of the Revised Communication Guidelines, the communication
should not be exclusively based on information circulated by the media. The Committee has
learned that the factual basis of the present communication comes from direct testimony of
the victim, her guardian and her lawyer who witnessed the events first-hand. Hence, the
Committee is of the view that the communication satisfies the requirement under Section IX
(1) (B) as information circulated by the media does not play a role in this communication.
28. According to Section IX (1) (C) of the Communication Guidelines, a communication shall not
raise matters pending settlement or previously settled by another international body or
procedure in accordance with any legal instruments of the Africa Union and principles of the
United Nations Charter. As far as the investigation of Committee goes, the Communication
under consideration does not raise matters pending settlement or previously settled by
1
Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum v Zimbabwe (2006) AHRLR 128 (ACHPR 2006)
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