BY LOU SIFA

Today Wednesday, just one day after the sentencing of former Ivorian prime minister Guillaume Soro to 20 years in prison, the Ivory Coast government withdrew from the protocol of the African Court on Human and People’s Rights (ACHPR) that allows citizens and the civil societies of member states to directly file complaints with the organization when they feel their human rights have been violated.

In the announcement, Sidi Touré, the Ivorian minister of communication and government’s spokesperson stated:

“The government has decided to withdraw its declaration of competence in the protocol relating to the African Chart on Human and People’s Rights that was issued on 19 June 2019.”

He added, however:

“This decision has been reached without prejudice to the government’s commitment to be a part of the the African Chart on Human and People’s Rights and its additional protocol relating to the African Court on Human and People’s Rights.”

The former speaker of the Ivorian parliament, Guillaume Soro, who previously served as the country’s prime minister, was sentenced yesterday to 20 years in prison after a marathon trial in absentia that lasted only a few hours, with Soro in exile in France. He was tried on charges of “embezzlement of public funds” and “money laundering.”

The Ivorian government’s decision to withdraw from the protocol came a week after the African Court on Human and People’s Rights based in Arusha, Tanzania unanimously ruled to order the Ivorian government to suspend its arrest warrant for Soro and called for the release of his political allies and relatives who have been imprisoned for four months, since the warrant was issued. The ruling came down after Soro filed a complaint with the court.

Some observers view the government’s decision as its commitment to bar Soro from contesting the upcoming 31 October presidential election for which has announced his candidacy.