II. SHORT BACKGROUND OF THE MATTER 1
3. The facts of the matter date back to the assassination, on 13 December 1998, of
Norbert Zongo, an investigative journalist, and his companions. Messsrs Abdoulaye
Nikiema alias Ablasse and Blaise llboudo were collaborators of Mr. Zongo, and Ernest
Zongo was his younger brother.
4. In their initial application dated 10 December 2011 , the Applicants alleged that "the
murder of the four persons on 13 December 1998 ... [was] connected with investigations
that Norbert Zongo was conducting on various political, economic and social scandals in
Burkina Faso during that period , notably the investigation of the death of David
Ouedraogo, the chauffeur of Fran9ois Compaore, brother of the President of Faso and
Adviser at the Presidency of the Republic".
5. After the Police and the Office of the Public Prosecutor in Burkina Faso had carried out
investigations into the matter of the quadruple assassination, one of the suspects
identified was Indicted in February 2001 .
6. In July 2006, an Order was issued by the Investigating Magistrate of Ouagadougou
District Court dismissing the case in favour of the indicted person for lack of evidence .
7. In August 2006, an appeal fi led against the Order by Norbert Zongo's family at the
indictment chamber of the Ouagadougou Court of Appeal, was thrown out by that Court,
and the dismissal for lack of evidence upheld .
8. Following these developments, the Applicants alleged before this Court the concurrent
violation of the provisions of various international human rights instruments to which
Burkina Faso is a party, namely:
(i) The Charter: Article 1 (obligation to adopt legislative or other measures to give effect
to the rights enshrined in the Charter); Article 3 (equality before the law and equal
protection of the law); Article 4 (the right to life); Article 7 (the right for one's cause to be
dated 28 March
For details on the facts and historical development of the case, see the Judgment of the Court
2014, paras 2 to 19.
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