COMMUNIQUÉ
On 14 September 2023, the ECOWAS High Court of Justice received three petitions filed by Ousmane Sonko on his own behalf and on behalf of the political party "Pastef".
The first is a main application containing a statement of facts, legal arguments and requests to the Court for a ruling.
Eleven human rights violations articulated on international human rights law were brought to the attention of the eminent magistrates invited to note them and to condemn the State of Senegal, which has definitively broken the moorings with the rule of law and democracy, which has also pushed state violence and persecution to a level unimaginable for a country that sits on the United Nations, a country that first ratified the Statute of the International Criminal Court, a country that was presented before the second democratic alternation as a haven of peace and the first bastion of democracy in Africa.
The second request, filed by Ousmane Sonko's counsel, is a request that the main request be able to derogate from the ordinary deadlines and be judged before the date of submission of candidatures for the presidential election, within a reasonable time that is not late and does not compromise the collection of sponsorships for Pastef and its candidate, President Ousmane Sonko.
The reasons of objective facts and law that justify this request before a regional court competent to hear human rights violations in the ECOWAS community, were set out to convince the judges and obtain a favorable decision on this request.
Finally, an application for interim measures has been filed, which seeks to obtain a decision from the Court within a very short time and within 48 hours of its referral by its President, on three applications that cannot wait and exceed the date of 28 September 2023 without taking precautionary measures andand provisional measures that do not settle the dispute or prejudice the merits, but preserve the rights and interests of all parties, including those of President Ousmane Sonko, the Pastef party and the State of Senegal.
Any delay in the responses to the application for admission to the accelerated procedure and the application for interim relief could cause irreversible damage to Pastef and its President. It is for this reason that the Court notified the applications immediately to the State of Senegal to send it its replies on the following violations very quickly:
1. The rights of the defence and a fair trial;
2. The right of access to a lawyer;
3. The Right to Freedom of Movement, Movement and Movement;
4. The right to physical and moral health for himself and his family;
5. The right to property and protection of personal data;
6. Kidnapping and the right to security of person;
7. The right to freedom of association andorganize peaceful assemblies;
8. The right to participate in free and democratic elections;
9. The manifestly arbitrary nature of the dissolution of the Parti Patriotes du Sénégal pour le travail, l'Ethique et la Fraternité (PASTEF);
10. The violation by the State of Senegal of the right of Mr. Ousmane SONKO to take part in the conduct of public affairs, to vote and to have the vote of Senegalese voters;
11. The violation of Mr SONKO's right to physical health and to the moral health of him and his family.
In summary proceedings, Ousmane SONKO's lawyers asked the Court:
1- To order the State of Senegal to refrain from any action likely to aggravate the dispute between it and Ousmane Sonko and concerning his participation in the presidential election of February 2025.
2- Order the suspension of the removal of Ousmane Sonko from the electoral lists for the presidential election of February 2025.2- Order the suspension of the removal of Ousmane Sonko from the electoral lists for the presidential election of February 2025.
3- To order the State of Senegal to refrain from infringing on the freedom to come and go of Ousmane Sonko.
In any case, the Defence hopes to obtain from the international human rights courts that they put an end to the experimental school of President Macky SALL, which is very harmful to democracy, denies human rights and had as victims Karim WADE and KHALIFA Sall by instrumentalizing the judicial system and judicial reforms in the service of a political clan.
Resistance to oppression for a sovereign, developed and prosperous Africa with States respectful of democratic and human values, is the path indicated by a man who has never wavered in his convictions for an African ideal and who has prepared for self-sacrifice, for the betterment and well-being.The better life of a continent, beyond its country. Its struggle crystallizes the values sung by the West and America, which nevertheless remain spectators and passive, while a people who believed they were protected by these same values face blind and bloody repression with their bare hands, which pushes ever further the limits of horror.
Perhaps these nations are amortized and it is the turn of this Africa, the cradle of humanity, with men of constancy, courage and conviction, to take over.
Ciré Clédor Ly, lawyer
Member of the Defence Collective
From President Ousmane Sonko.