reinstatement in public or private office. The amnesty is granted by the Public Prosecutor ("Procureur de la République ou juge chargé du Ministère Public") within three days after the request (article 4). According to article 3, the petition under these provisions does not prevent the victim from pursuing his claims before the ordinary tribunals. Commission on Human Rights, an organ they claim was established for the purpose of investigating claims of human rights violations. The Commission, however, did not examine their complaints and simply forwarded their files to the Administrative Chamber of the Court of Appeal. This instance, apparently, has not seen fit to examine their cases. The author of case No. 424/1990 additionally complains about the delays in the procedure before the Court of Appeal; thus, he was sent documents submitted by the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications some seven months after their receipt by the Court. 5.1 After a request for further clarifications formulated by the Committee during the forty-ninth session, the authors, by letters dated 23 December, 15 November and 16 December 1993 respectively, informed the Committee that they were reinstated in their posts pursuant to the Law of 11 April 1991. Mr. Diasso notes that he was reinstated with effect from 27 May 1991, the others with effect from 1 July 1991. The complaint 3.1 The authors claim that their arrest and detention was contrary to article 9, paragraph 1, of the Covenant. This was implicitly conceded by the State party when it dropped all the charges against them. They further contend that the State party has violated article 19 in respect to them, because they were persecuted for having carried, read or disseminated documents that contained no more than an assessment of Togolese politics, either at the domestic or foreign policy level. 5.2 The authors note that there has been no progress in the proceedings before the Administrative Chamber of the Court of Appeal, and that their cases appear to have been shelved, after their reinstatement under the Amnesty Law. They argue, however, that the law was improperly applied to their cases, since they had never been tried and convicted for committing an offence, but had been unlawfully arrested, detained and subsequently released after the charges against them were dropped. They add that they have not been given arrears on their salaries for the period between arrest and reinstatement, during which they were denied their income. 3.2 The authors request reinstatement in the posts they had held prior to their arrest, and request compensation under article 9, paragraph 5, of the Covenant. State party's admissibility observations and authors' comments 5.3 As regards the statute of the University of Benin, the authors submit that, although the University is, at least in theory, administratively and financially autonomous, it is in practice under the control of the State, as 95 per cent of its budget is State-controlled. 4.1 The State party objects to the admissibility of the communications on the ground that the authors have failed to exhaust available domestic remedies. It observes that the procedure is regularly engaged before the Court of Appeal. In the cases concerning Messrs Aduayom and Diasso (communications Nos 422/1990 and 423/1990), the employer (the University of Benin) did not file its own submission, so that the Administrative Chamber of the Court of Appeal cannot pass sentence. With respect to the case of Mr. Dobou (No. 424/1990), the author allegedly did not comment on the statement of the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications. The State party concludes that domestic remedies have not been exhausted, since the Administrative Chamber has not handed down a decision. 5.4 The authors refute the State party's argument that they have failed to exhaust domestic remedies. In this context, they argue that the proceedings before the Administrative Chamber of the Court of Appeal are wholly ineffective, since their cases were obviously filed after their reinstatement under the Amnesty Law, and nothing has happened since. They do not, however, indicate whether they have filed complaints with a view to recovering their salary arrears. The Committee's admissibility decision 4.2 The State party also notes that the Amnesty Law of 11 April 1991 decreed by the President of the Republic constitutes another remedy for the authors. The law covers all political cases as defined by the Criminal Code ("infractions à caractère ou d'inspiration politique, prévues par la législation pénale") which occurred before 11 April 1991. Article 2 of the Law expressly allows for the 6.1 During its fifty-first session, the Committee considered the admissibility of the communication. It noted with concern that no reply had been received from the State party in respect of a request for clarification on the issue of exhaustion of domestic remedies, which had been addressed to it on 26 October 1993. 29