Article 1 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights: "The Member
States of the Organization of African Unity parties to the present Charter shall
recognize the rights, duties and freedoms enshrined in this Charter and shall
undertake to adopt legislative or other measures to give effect to them."
Article 4 of the said Charter: "Human beings are inviolable. Every human being
shall be entitled to respect for his life and the integrity of his person. No one
may be arbitrarily deprived of this right."
Article 5 of the said Charter, which provides that: "Every individual shall have
the right to the respect of the dignity inherent in a human being and to the
recognition of his legal status. All forms of exploitation and degradation of
man particularly slavery, slave trade, torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading
punishment and treatment shall be prohibited."
Article 6 of the said Charter, in whose terms: "Every individual shall have the
right to liberty and to the security of his person. No one may be deprived of his
freedom except for reasons and conditions previously laid down by law. In
particular, no one may be arbitrarily arrested or detained."
Article 7 of the said Charter, which states that: "Every individual shall have the
right to have his cause heard. This comprises: (a) the right to an appeal to
competent national organs against acts of violating his fundamental rights as
recognized and guaranteed by conventions, laws, regulations and customs in
force; (b) the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty by a competent
court or tribunal; (c) the right to defense, including the right to be defended by
counsel of his choice; (d) the right to be tried within a reasonable time by an
impartial court or tribunal."
The Court holds that the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as party to the African
Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, is under obligation to preserve human
lives, prohibit the practice of torture, respect the integrity of human beings
(Article 5}, and respect the freedom and security of human beings (Article 6}.
The Court holds that every State Party to the said Charter, and more generally,
any State Party to any legal instrument prescribing respect for right to life,
physical integrity of human beings and prohibition of torture, remains under
obligation to employ all the means at its disposal to prevent all acts and practices
which tend to go contrary to those obligations. The State shall guarantee the
actual implementation of the stipulated rights, notably within the context such
as submitted before this Court in the instant case, where it is against the State's
agents, i.e. against persons acting directly under the State's authority- State
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