owing to the efforts made by the State party, which met with a categorical refusal on the part of Ms. Sankara. The State party refers to the efforts it has made to achieve reconciliation vis-à-vis Thomas Sankara, and in particular the fact that the location of his grave is public knowledge. The Sankara family cannot claim intimidation of any kind, in so far as its members no longer live in Burkina Faso. The State party considers that the authors have not demonstrated any act attributable to the State party which has caused either physical suffering or mental suffering such as to substantiate a violation of article 7. 9.9 Concerning the alleged violation of article 9, paragraph 1, the State party indicates that the authors have put forward the same arguments as for article 7, and that they have failed likewise to supply any specific arguments to back up the allegations. The authors have not been the victims of arrest or arbitrary detention, nor has their security been disturbed. Accordingly, the State party calls on the Committee to reject the allegation. 9.10 Concerning article 14, paragraph 1, the State party refers to its observations on the merits, in relation to the amount of the bond, which cannot alone indicate bias on the part of the judge. In addition, and citing the Committee’s jurisprudence,31 the State party maintains that the authors did not raise any irregularity before the judicial division of the Supreme Court. Moreover, concerning the authors’ arguments based on Griffin v. Spain, the State party notes that they have not demonstrated the arbitrary and unfair nature of the proceedings in the Supreme Court, that they have not demonstrated any procedural irregularity, and that the only procedural obstacles which may be cited in the present case are attributable to the failure to deposit a bond, for which the authors have only themselves to blame. 9.11 Concerning article 26, the State party refers to its observations, adding that articles 1 and 8 of Burkina Faso’s Constitution protect citizens against all forms of discrimination and guarantee freedom of expression. Discrimination is forbidden by the new 1996 Criminal Code, which lays down severe punishment. According to the State party, the authors have not demonstrated that they have political opinions which gave rise to discriminatory measures on the part of the authorities. Benefiting from refugee status in a foreign country does not in itself constitute proof of discrimination based on the political opinions of the beneficiary. According to the State party, the criteria used by each State in 31 Communication No. 811/1998, Mulai v. Republic of Guyana, Views of 20 July 2004: “where attempts at jury tampering come to the knowledge of either of the parties, these alleged improprieties should have been challenged before the court” [para. 6.1]. 132 132 granting refugee status are in practice sometimes subjective, and the Sankara family members still living in Burkina Faso are not harassed in any way because of their political views. The State party calls on the Committee to reject the allegation that article 26 was violated. Authors’ comments on the State party’s observations 10. In their comments of 15 January 2006, the authors reaffirm their earlier observations. Concerning the time bar, they explain that no court has called this matter into question, and that in relation to article 7 of the Code of Criminal Procedure 32 and the applicable case law, there has never been a time bar. Request for reconsideration of the admissibility decision 11. The Committee has taken note of the request for reconsideration of its decision on admissibility, made both by the State party and by the authors. It points out that most of the arguments advanced in support of the request for reconsideration relate to parts of the communication which had already been thoroughly examined during consideration of the issue of admissibility, and that the other arguments must be analysed as part of the consideration of the merits. Consequently, the Committee decides to proceed to consider the merits of the communication. Consideration of the merits 12.1 The Human Rights Committee has considered the present communication in the light of all the information made available to it by the parties, as provided in article 5, paragraph 1, of the Optional Protocol. 12.2 Concerning the alleged violation of article 7, the Committee understands the anguish and psychological pressure which Ms. Sankara and her sons, the family of a man killed in disputed circumstances, have suffered and continue to suffer because they still do not know the circumstances surrounding the death of Thomas Sankara, or the precise location where his remains were officially buried.33 Thomas Sankara’s family have the right to 32 “In criminal matters, prosecution is time-barred 10 years after the date on which the offence was committed, if no act of investigation or prosecution has taken place in that interval. If such acts have taken place during that interval, prosecution shall be time-barred only 10 years after the latest such act. The same applies even to persons who were not affected by the act of investigation or prosecution.” 33 Communications Nos. 886/1999, Schedko v. Belarus, Views of 3 April 2003, para. 10.2, and 887/1999, Staselovich v. Belarus, Views of 3 April 2003, para. 9.2.