of different ages; it is not clear whether the claim in respect to the child would
be equal to the claim in respect to an adult within the group. According to the
Respondent State, the damages are not due because there is no violation of
Articles 1 and 4 of the African Charter by the Respondent State.
African Commission’s analysis on Merits
94. Before the African Commission delves into analyzing whether there has been
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a violation of Articles 1 and 4 of the African Charter or not, the African
Commission will first establish whether the four deceased persons referred to
in the Communication were killed by agents of the Respondent State in
circumstances amounting to wrongful death, summary executions or extrajudicial killings through an excessive use of force.
95. There is no clear provision in the African Charter that defines the concepts of
wrongful death, summary executions or extra-judicial killings. However
Article 60 of the African Charter urges the Commission to draw inspirations
from international law on human and peoples‟ rights, as well as from the
provisions of various instruments adopted within the specialized agencies of
the United Nations of which the parties to the Charter are members.
96. The Principles on the Effective Prevention and Investigation of Extra-Legal,
Arbitrary and Summary Executions (the Principles) according to which
extrajudicial, summary and arbitrary executions shall “not be carried out
under any circumstances including, but not limited to situations of internal
armed conflict, excessive use of force by a public official or other person
acting in official capacity or by a person acting at the instigation, or with the
consent or acquiescence of such a person, and situations in which deaths
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