Respondent State's arguments on the merits 89. As already mentioned in the section on procedure, the Respondent State did not submit its observations on the merits, although it had been given sufficient time in accordance with the Commission's Rules of Procedure. Preliminary observations 90. Given that the Respondent State has failed to conclude, the Commission, in accordance withits jurisprudence 22, will proceed~ith this Communication based on the elements ~t its disposal. ' ,{ ':', On the alleged violations \ 91. The Corrimissiori j:}jser~es that, in their initial submissions, the Complainants identified c~rt?inprovisI()l1s of the Maputo Protocol as having been violated, but unfortunately~,:~!p not ~laborate on or refer to them in their substantive submissions tb.\~rOWwhat the violation was. This is the case, for example, of Articles 5 and 10"of.theMaputo Protocol. {~ 92. In the absence of the Complainants' arguments as to whether these provisions have been violated, the Commission cannot find a basis for a decision on whether they have been violated or not. It will only rule on those provisions in respect of which the Complainants have developed their observations. 17