Survivors of the 2012 massacre by state security forces in the village of Zogota in the West African country of Guinea are keeping their fingers crossed as hearing of their Exequatur suit begins today at the Tribunal Judiciaire in Paris, France.
The stakes in this action are high because not only could success make the difference that allows the Zogota massacre survivors to finally receive justice, but it would also pioneer an important new strategy for victims of grave abuses worldwide.
In October last year, some survivors of the 2012 massacre by state security forces in the village of Zogota in the West African country of Guinea run to the Tribunal Judiciaire in Paris, France, to seek justice through a lawsuit against the Guinean state.
Earlier in 2018, these survivors brought their case to the Abuja-based ECOWAS Court of Justice after their complaints were repeatedly stalled and ignored in the Guinean courts. The ECOWAS Court found that Guinea had violated its international human rights obligations and ordered it to pay 4.56 billion Guinean francs (then approximately $436,000) to the plaintiffs, but the government is yet to comply.
This led to an exequatur suit filed by the massacre survivors at the tribunal in Paris, which they hope will grant exequatur, or recognition, of the ECOWAS Court judgment. The purpose of the exequatur suit is to recognize that the ECOWAS Court decision is enforceable in France, on an equal basis with judgments of the French courts.
Exequatur, if granted, would allow the massacre survivors to locate and seize certain Guinean state assets in France to satisfy the ECOWAS Court’s compensation order.
One of the biggest weaknesses in the international justice system for human rights abuses is the difficulty in enforcing human rights tribunals’ judgments against states, so this exequatur action could fill a major accountability gap.
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