(~~f'ACHPR I crrrrro African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights , Human Rights our Collective Responsibility The victim finally submits that the situation in the Respondent State, as recognized by the African Commission in its Resolution 284, further creates an environment conducive to the commission of rape. Alleged violation of the obligation to protect women from gender-based violence in armed conflict under Article 5 of the African Charter and Article 11 of the Maputo Protocol 4. The Complainant first recalls the provisions of Article 11 of the Maputo Protocol which states that "1. States [parties] undertake to respect and ensure respect for the rules of international humanitarian law applicable in situations of armed conflict affecting the population, particularly "Women.2. States [Parties] shalt in accordance with their obligations under international humanitarian law, protect civilians, including women, irrespective of the population to 'which they belong, in situations of armed conflict". 5. The Complainant then asserts that it is recognized that lithe extent and sustained nature of the armed violence, and the level of organization of the non-State armed group involved in the fighting means that the situation in the Respondent State, including in 2008, has reached the threshold of an armed conflict, and that international humanitarian law therefore applies= . She adds that as a noninternational armed conflict, Article 3 common to the 1949 Geneva Conventions and customary international humanitarian law applies to all parties to the conflict, both State and non-State actors= . Thus, the core obligations applicable in such a conflict include the prohibition of attacking any civilian not directly participating in hostilities, and the prohibition of rape and torture-". II 6. The Complainant states that the African Commission has emphasized that, with respect to Article 5 of the African Charter, it applies at all times, including during armed conflict, and that State parties have an obligation to protect civilians in conflict, including against violations of Article 530 . She further indicates that the Commission found, for example in Sudan Human Rights Organisation & Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE) v. Sudan, that the State IS failure to protect women from human Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights, Rule of Law in Armed Conflicts: Democratic Republic of Congo; Elizabeth Wilmshurst, International Law and the Classification of Conflicts, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2012, pp. 189-192. 28 Andrew Clapham, Human rights obligations of non-State actors in conflict situations, International Review of the Red Cross, Volume 88 No. 863, September 2006, p. 498, available at www,icrc.org!eng!assets!files!other!irrc 863 clapham.pdf. 29 Ibid; see, for more information, International Committee of the Red Cross, Customary International Humanitarian Law, Rule 93. Rape and other forms of sexual violence. 30 See, for example, African Commission, Amnesty International and Others v. Sudan, Comm. No. 48/90-50/91-52/91-89/93, para. 42; see also, CEDAW, General Recommendation No. 30, stating at para. 2 that "States parties remain.under an obligation to fulfil their obligations in times of conflict or emergency withou t discrimination between nationals within their territory or in territories under their jurisdiction, even if such territories are not within the S~¢l.a~. r 27 4ow~~tfo~ ~~Mcl~ 9 . Af nc;an 0/( 6_ ~~ The African .... i)] Un Ion b ,.VJi ",r.",; ~ Commission on Human af1<fPeop S~i9hts 31 Bijilo Annex Layout. I<odi\bo N rth . istr1ct'i West CQa~ Reg on .I$a. Phone: (220) 230 4361 441 0 04 '" ~ D ~. ~-< FNX: (~ 0 .'-' ox . U \)ps Email: aU-banJul@aF.e:a..t.lOn.it)rg ,;-> '" ,. '" "7,<. \)v 4.t . hltps:{~ ", pr.a8 , ( ~~ tv 4"RICF>-' _. ftO.11ME £1 O€ s: o~" ?' CI> I