Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN), has confirmed the move to apply to the ECOWAS Community Court to cause an investigation into the death of former elected Secretary General of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), Dr Diallo Telli.
Telli was allegedly murdered by the authorities in the Republic of Guinea through the ‘Black Death’, involving detention in shackles and total denial of water and food.
Speaking with Daily Trust on Thursday, Falana said his law firm has concluded paperwork for the application to the ECOWAS Court to investigate the circumstances surrounding the former scribe’s death.
He added that the only material needed was the deceased’s family’s written permission to proceed with the matter.
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“This is an abominable act that shouldn’t go unchallenged; having served the continent at a very crucial period in our history as a people, we must ensure that a thorough investigation is carried out and the government of Guinea holds it as a responsibility to investigate the circumstance of his unfortunate death,” he said.
Earlier, in a letter to Falana, the executive director of the Africa Vision 525 Initiative, Okene Oculi, had bemoaned the circumstances surrounding Telli’s death, and called for legal action to stem “rampant murders of political opponents in many African countries.”
Oculi recalled that member states of OAU had unsuccessfully appealed to President Sekou Toure to endorse Telli for a third term as secretary-general, adding that he led the demand for the release of Nelson Mandel from prison and the evolution by the United Nations General Assembly to declare apartheid regime in South Africa ‘A Crime against humanity’.
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