By Abdulwahab Abdulah

Lagos—Human rights lawyer, Mr Femi Falana, SAN, has urged the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, ACHPR, to direct the African Commission, AU, to refer the Communication against Burundi filed before it five years ago to the African Court.

In a petition, Falana, who dragged AU to the African Court also asked it to hear his application pursuant to Rule 29 of the Rules of Procedure of the African Court and the inherent jurisdiction of the court.

He claimed to have filed a process against Burundi before the Commission on 4 May 2010 but it has refused to refer the Burundi petition to the court.

The application to the court dated 10 August 2015 and addressed to the Chief Registrar, Dr Robert Eno, reads in part: “This application follows the communication I initiated on 4 May 2015 and submitted to the African Commission regarding the systematic and widespread violations of human rights in Burundi.’’