I. SUBJECT OF THE APPLICATION
1. By letter dated 11 December 2011, the Court was seized of this matter by lbrahima
Kane, claiming to act on behalf of the family and advocates of Late Norbert Zongo.
According to the document titled "Communication/Application" dated 10 December 2011
annexed to the aforesaid
letter, the action is brought against Burkina Faso by the
beneficiaries of Late Norbert Zongo, Abdoulaye Nikiema alias Ablasse, Ernest Zongo
and Blaise llboudo and by the Burkinabe Human and Peoples' Rights Movement.
A) The facts of the matter
2. According to the Application, the facts date back to 13 December 1998, when Norbert
Zongo, an investigating journalist, and his above-mentioned companions were murdered.
The companions, Abdoulaye Nikiema and Blaise llboudo, were work colleagues of Mr.
Zongo, while Ernest Zongo was his younger brother.
3. The Applicants state that "the investigating journalist and Director of the weekly
magazine L'lndependant, Norbert Zongo and his companions, Abdoulaye Nikiema,
Ernest Zongo and Blaise llboudo, were found burnt in the car in which they were travelling,
on 13 December 1998, seven kilometres from Sapouy, on the way to Leo, in the south of
Burkina Faso".
4. Relying mainly on the report of the Independent Commission of Enquiry set up by the
Government to determine the cause of death of the aforementioned
persons, the
Applicants allege that "the murder of the four persons on 13 December 1998 is 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. The Applicants state that, "as the chauffeur and employee of Fran9ois Compaore,
David Ouedraogo died on 18 January 1998 at the Health Centre of the Presidency in
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