Exiled Ivory Coast opposition leader Guillaume Soro

By Gary Raynaldo    DIPLOMATIC TIMES

The African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights Tuesday called on Abidjan officials to restore exiled  opposition leader Guillaume Soro to the electoral list of candidates for the upcoming presidential elections in west African nation Côte d’Ivoire. Soro, a former rebel leader who has also been barred from running in the October 31 election and lives in exile in France, insists he has a right to be a candidate. Soro has called on France President Emmanuel Macron to take a stand against Alassane Ouattara, the outgoing president of Côte d’Ivoire who is seeking a third term while the constitution limits to two the number of terms.  Soro was invalidated Monday as a candidate by the Constitutional Council because of a conviction.   In April, Soro, a high-profile  organizer of  “the resistance”  to President  Ouattara, was  sentenced to 20 years in jail on charges of embezzlement and money laundering.  An Ivory Coast court handed down the sentence to Soro which included a fine of seven million euros.  Soro was tried in absentia as he currently lives in Paris.  Soro  has steadfastly denied all of the  charges against him, saying the are “trumped up”  designed to keep him from participating in the country’s scheduled presidential elections.  The ACHPR has asked Abidjan  to “stay the execution” of the sentence of  Soro, and to restore  him to the electoral rolls.  Lors d’une conférence de presse organisée dans les salons d’un grand hôtel parisien, l’ancien président du Parlement a réaffirmé qu’il maintenait sa candidature de manière « ferme, irréductible et irrévocable ». -Le Monde. 

“When the judges are not corrupt like those in my country, they say the law and give it back its glory. The judges of the African Court have ruled. Therefore I reaffirm my candidacy for the presidential election of October 2020 in my country.”

-Guillaume Soro  via Twitter

Soro Calls On Opposition To Block  Outtara’s Re-Election Bid

Soro also urged  the opposition to block Outtara’s re-election by any lawful means, Reuters reported. The opposition says  Ouattara is violating the constitution by seeking a third term; the president says a constitutional change means his two-term limit has been reset.  Speaking to reporters in Paris Thursday where he has fled to escape corruption charges he says are politically motivated, he said: “I call for unity of action by the opposition to stop Mr Ouattara … by all legal and legitimate means” -Reuters

Quand les juges ne sont pas corrompus comme ceux de mon pays, ils disent le droit et lui rendent ses lettres de noblesse. Les juges de la Cour Africaine ont tranché. Par conséquent je réaffirme ma Candidature à l’élection présidentielle d’octobre 2020 dans mon pays. Lisez 👇🏿👇🏿 pic.twitter.com/P4RuLXeEAt

— Guillaume K. Soro (@SOROKGUILLAUME) September 15, 2020

Last April, the ACHPR requested Ivory Coast   to temporarily suspend the arrest warrant against Soro.  The ACHPR request is unlikely to sway any officials in Ivory Coast to restore Soro to the  electoral lists because Abidjan withdrew from the African Court in April after it called for suspension of Soro’s arrest warrant. 

The African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (the Court) is a continental court established by African countries to ensure the protection of human and peoples’ rights in Africa. It complements and reinforces the functions of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights. The Court was established by virtue of Article 1 of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Establishment of an African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, (the Protocol) which was adopted by Member States of the then Organisation of African Unity (OAU) in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, in June 1998. The Protocol came into force on 25 January 2004.