France, June 27 -- The African Union's human rights court has rejected petitions by former Ivorian president Laurent Gbagbo and former prime minister Guillaume Soro to overturn bans on their running in the country's upcoming presidential election.

Gbagbo and Soro petitioned the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights in 2020, arguing their rights had been violated by the Ivorian justice system, which has barred them from standing in the 25 October presidential election.

The Tanzania-based court ruled Thursday that Gbagbo had provided insufficient evidence to challenge his ban and was not the victim of discriminatory treatment.

It threw out Soro's case, ruling he had not exhausted his appeals in Cote d'Ivoire.

Gbagbo was the west Af...