Case Summary and Outcome

The African Court of Human and Peoples’ Rights held that Burkina Faso violated Articles 1 and 7 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, as well as Article 9(2) (read together with Article 66(2)(c)) of the Revised Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) treaty. The court held that by failing to investigate a journalist’s murder, Burkina Faso chilled the freedom of expression of other journalists.

Facts

In December 1998, Norbert Zongo, a journalist and editor of a Burkinabe newspaper, L’Indepependant, was found dead in his car. His beneficiaries and independent investigators concluded that Zongo was assassinated in retaliation to a story he was working on which implicated the younger brother of the President of Burkina Faso in the torture and murder of another man. The investigation into the assassination identified six suspects, all members of the Presidential Guard, however charges were only brought against one suspect and those charges were later dismissed.

In response to Burkina Faso’s failure to adequately investigate the assassination, the beneficiaries of Norbert Zongo initiated a case before the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights alleging Burkina Faso had violated Articles 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, and 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, Articles 2 (3), 14, and 19 (2) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and Article 8 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Decision Overview

The court made two separate decisions in this case, both of which ruled that Burkina Faso had violated the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights. First, the court held that by failing to adequately investigate and pursue the assassins of Norbert Zongo, Burkina Faso was in violation of Article 7, which holds that a member state must not deprive citizens of their right to have causes of action heard. Here, Burkina Faso had deprived the beneficiaries of Norbert Zongo from having their causes of action heard by not seeking penalties upon those suspected of being involved in the assassination of Mr. Zongo.

The second decision rested on Article 9(2) of the Charter, which states that parties must allow its citizens the right to freedom of expression. Here, the court concluded that Burkina Faso had also violated this article. Specifically, by failing to adequately investigate the murder of Mr. Zongo, himself an investigative journalist, Burkina Faso had indirectly stymied freedom of expression. The court’s rationale was that allowing those who had committed the murder to escape justice invoked fear in media members and circles, thus paralyzing the free flow of information guaranteed by Article 9(2). As such, Burkina Faso’s failure to investigate acted as intimidation on other journalists who feared reprisals, and did not believe that the government would adequately protect them or seek justice on their behalf.

The exact penalty to be imposed was deferred by the court until the beneficiaries of Mr. Zongo had opportunity to file briefs on what reparations they were seeking and Burkina Faso had opportunity to respond to said briefs. After both parties submitted their respective briefs, the court then established that “under the African human right system, the state has a duty to ensure remedies where there is a human rights violation.” [1] Accordingly, the court then ordered Burkina Faso to reopen the investigation of the assassination of Mr. Zongo, his brother Ernest Zongo, Blaise Ilboudo and their driver Abdoulaye Nikiema. The court has also directed Burkina Faso to locate, prosecute and try the perpetrators. [2]

The court also determined that Burkina Faso had to pay damages to each of the victims’ partners CFA 25 million (approximately $43,000 US), and to each of their children, CFA 15 million (approximately $26,000 US). Moreover, the court ordered Burkina Faso to publish the French summary of the court’s judgment “once in its official gazette and once in a widely disseminated daily national newspaper and on the government’s official website for a year.” [3] Finally, the court dictated that within six months from the date of the judgment, Burkina Faso must report to the court concerning the status of fulfillment with the court’s decisions.

[1] Chidi Odinkalu, African Court orders Remedies and Damages in Case of Murdered Journalist, Open Society Foundations, June 9, 2015, http://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/voices/african-court-orders-remedies-and-damages-case-murdered-journalist (Accessed August 8, 2015)

[2] Burkina Faso: Massive Victory for Justice and Fight Against Impunity, Media Foundation for West Africa, http://www.mfwa.org/news.php?article_ID=518 (Accessed August 8, 2015)

[3] Chidi Odinkalu, African Court orders Remedies and Damages in Case of Murdered Journalist, Open Society Foundations, June 9, 2015, http://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/voices/african-court-orders-remedies-and-damages-case-murdered-journalist (Accessed August 8, 2015)