By Enyichukwu Enemanna
The African Union’s human rights court has thrown out a petition filed by Ivory Coast’s former President, Laurent Gbagbo, in which he faulted a criminal conviction that bars him from seeking re-election in the West African nation.
The African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights also rejected a petition by ex-Prime Minister Guillaume Soro, who, like Gbagbo, is barred from running in Ivory Coast’s elections coming up in October over his criminal record.
Gbagbo, 80, was Ivory Coast’s President from 2000 until he was forced out of office in 2011 in a bloody civil war that brought current President Alassane Ouattara to power.
Despite his ineligibility to seek re-election over a criminal conviction that stemmed from the conflict, Gbagbo has gone ahead to declare his candidacy for the October 25 presidential election.
Several prominent opposition figures have been disqualified from the October election, including Gbagbo, Soro, and Tidjane Thiam, a former Swiss Credit CEO and the leader of the main opposition Democratic Party of Ivory Coast (PDCI).
Gbagbo and Soro petitioned the African Court in 2020, arguing their rights had been violated by the Ivorian justice system.
The Tanzania-based court ruled Gbagbo had provided insufficient evidence and was not the victim of discriminatory treatment.
It threw out Soro’s case, ruling he had not exhausted his appeals in Ivory Coast.
In 2020, the same court had issued provisional orders ruling both men must be allowed to run in that year’s elections.
Ivory Coast has, however, withdrawn recognition of the court’s jurisdiction.
Gbagbo, 80, who was acquitted on charges of crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court, still has a conviction in Ivory Coast stemming from the violent post-election crisis that ended his rule.
Soro, 53, who is in exile, was sentenced to life in prison in Ivory Coast on corruption and insurrection charges.
