Senegal’s jurisdiction, since as only Senegal can decide whether to continue with the legal proceedings instituted by the complainants in Senegal. By instituting proceedings in the Senegalese courts, the complainants came under the jurisdiction of the State party for the purposes of those proceedings. party against which a communication has been submitted within the meaning of article 22, the Committee must take into account various factors that are not confined to the author’s nationality. The Committee observes that the alleged violations of the Convention concern the refusal of the Senegalese authorities to prosecute Hissène Habré despite their obligation to establish universal jurisdiction in accordance with article 5, paragraph 2, and article 7 of the Convention. The Committee also observes that the State party does not dispute that the authors were the plaintiffs in the proceedings brought against Hissène Habré in Senegal. Moreover, the Committee notes, the complainants in this case accepted Senegalese jurisdiction in order to pursue the proceedings against Hissène Habré which they instituted. On the basis of these elements, the Committee is of the opinion that the authors are indeed subject to the jurisdiction of Senegal in the dispute to which this communication refers. 5.5 The complainants also make the subordinate point that, under Senegalese law, foreigners instituting judicial proceedings in the State party must accept Senegalese jurisdiction. This shows that, even if Senegal’s restrictive interpretation is accepted, the complainants do indeed come under the State party’s jurisdiction. 5.6 Lastly, the authors argue that the State party cannot invoke domestic law to claim that they are not subject to its jurisdiction since that would be tantamount to taking advantage of its failure to comply with article 5, paragraph 2, of the Convention, under which States parties are obliged to take such measures as may be necessary to establish their jurisdiction over the offences referred to in article 4 of the Convention. In invoking this argument, the State party is disregarding both customary law and international law. The principle of nemo auditur propriam turpitudinem allegans is applied in most legal systems and prevents anyone asserting a right acquired by fraud. Moreover, under article 27 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, “a party may not invoke the provisions of its internal law as justification for its failure to perform a treaty”. The complainants point out that the Vienna Convention thus reaffirms the principle that, regardless of the arrangements under internal law for the implementation of a treaty at the national level, such arrangements cannot detract from the State’s obligation at an international level to ensure the implementation of and assume international responsibility for the treaty. 6.4 The Committee also considers that the principle of universal jurisdiction enunciated in article 5, paragraph 2, and article 7 of the Convention implies that the jurisdiction of States parties must extend to potential complainants in circumstances similar to the complainants’. 6.5 Accordingly, the Committee against Torture declared the communication admissible on 13 November 2001. The State party’s merits observations 7.1 The State party transmitted its observations on the merits by note verbale dated 31 March 2002. 7.2 The State party points out that, in accordance with the rules of criminal procedure, judicial proceedings in Senegal opened on 27 January 2000 with an application from the public prosecutor’s office in Dakar for criminal proceedings to be brought against Hissène Habré as an accessory to torture and acts of barbarism and against a person or persons unknown for torture, acts of barbarism and crimes against humanity. Hissène Habré was charged on both counts on 3 February 2000 and placed under house arrest. On 18 February 2000, Hissène Habré submitted an application for the proceedings to be dismissed on the grounds that the Senegalese courts were not competent, that the charges had no basis in law, and that the alleged offences were time-barred. The Committee’s admissibility decision 6.1 At its twenty-seventh session, the Committee considered the admissibility of the complaint. It ascertained that the matter had not been and was not being examined under another procedure of international investigation or settlement, and considered that the communication did not constitute an abuse of the right to submit such communications and was not incompatible with the provisions of the Convention. 7.3 On 4 July 2000, the Indictment Division of the Court of Appeal dismissed the proceedings. On 20 March 2001, the Court of Cassation rejected the appeal lodged by the complainants (plaintiffs). That ruling, handed down by the highest court in Senegal, thus brought the proceedings to an end. 6.2 The Committee took note of the State party’s argument that the communication should be found inadmissible since the complainants are not subject to Senegal’s jurisdiction within the meaning of article 22 of the Convention. 6.3 To establish whether a complainant is effectively subject to the jurisdiction of the State 7.4 Regarding the allegations that the executive put pressure on the judiciary, in particular by 103