Action required: Decision on the Merits Recommendation 78. The Secretariat recommends dial the African Commission defer the Decision on the Merits to the 44th Ordinary Session in order to allow the Respondent State to submit on the Merits. The Complainant has indicated its willingness during the present 43rd Ordinary Session, if the Respondent State is agreeable, to give oral arguments on the Merits. Submissions on Merits Complainants' Submission on the Merits 79. The arguments below are the submissions of the Complainant, taking also into consideration all their written submissions, including letters and supporting affidavits. 80. The Complainant bases his claims against the Respondent State on the violations of Articles 4, 5, 6, 7(c) and (d), 10(1) and 14 of the African Charter. Alleged Violation of Article 4 81. The Complainant states that Article 4 of the African Charter guarantees that every human being is entitled to respect for his life and the integrity of his person and that any harm inflicted against any person constitutes a violation of the physical integrity of that person. He states that the electrocution of the Victim by the Respondent State agents acting in the scope and course of their employment, namely one Garnet Sikhova, Makedenge, Masvimbo and other members of the Law and Order Section of the Zimbabwe Republic Police, the Central Intelligence Organisation and the Army, constitutes an egregious violation of the right to physical integrity. He states that it should be recalled in the facts before the African Commission as well as subsequent oral averments, that the Victim was subjected to prolonged electric shocks in the mouth, genitals, fingers, toes and other parts of the body. He informs the African Commission that medical affidavits from among others, a government doctor tend to support the Victim's testimony. Alleged Violation of Article 5 82. The Complainant also state that a chemical substance was applied onto the Victim's body, in contravention of the Victim's right to physical integrity Article 5 (inhumane and degrading treatment). He states that during his torture, the Victim was also forced to drink his own blood and urine apart from being urinated upon by his tormentors while they chanted 'this is humiliation, this is humiliation...'. He states that all these facts were not contested by the Respondent State during oral argument, as the Respondent State representatives conceded that they could not say what kind of torture the Victim suffered in police custody, and could not deny that the torture of the Victim occurred. He concludes that the above acts manifestly contravene Article 5 of the African Charter, which proscribes the perpetration of torture, cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment. 83. The Complainant observes that the prohibition of all forms of exploitation and degradation of man particularly slavery, slave trade, torture, inhuman or degrading treatment is provided for under Article 5 of the Charter. He states that it is well known that the Respondent State commits torture with impunity, and the Victim's case is one of the many cases that bear testimony to this fact. He states that other cases have been widely reported on, for example, the severe torture and beatings of the top Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions and Opposition Movement for Democratic Change officials as occurred on 11 March 2007 (Morgan Tsvangirai, Sekai Holland and Grace Kwinjeh were amongst the activists who were allegedly beaten up). He argues that a Fact-finding Mission Report produced by the African Commission after it visited the Respondent State cited the Victim's torture as one of the most serious of violations by the Respondent State. He states that it should be observed that this Mission was undertaken by respected experts who were on the ground in the Respondent State. 84. The Complainant argues that by subjecting the Victim to conditions of physical and mental harm with such practices as electrocution, beating and denial of food and water, the Respondent State subjected the Victim to torture or otherwise cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment in contravention of the provisions of 8