65. The Respondent State reiterated its submission that it “has not violated the Applicants’ rights under the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights” without any substantiation. *** 66. The Court recalls that Article 5 of the Charter 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. 67. In Yassin Rashid Maige v. United Republic of Tanzania the Court examined, at length, the incompatibility of corporal punishment with, Article 5 of the Charter. In its examination, the Court noted that the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture along with the United Nations Human Rights Council were in agreement that prohibitions on inhuman and degrading treatment applied to corporal punishment.24 The Court also demonstrated that the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights had similarly found that sentencing of persons to corporal punishment, in the form of lashings, violated Article 5 of the Charter and was tantamount to government sanctioned torture contrary to the Charter.25 The findings, in respect of the incompatibility of corporal punishment with the Charter, were subsequently confirmed by the Court in Kabalabala Kadumbagula and Another v. United Republic of Tanzania. 26 68. In the instant Application, the Applicants were sentenced to 12 strokes of the cane each by the District Court of Ludewa. This sentence was upheld both by the High Court and the Court of Appeal. The record, however, does 24 Yassin Rashdi Maige v. United Republic of Tanzania, ACtHPR, Application No. 051/2016, Judgment of 5 September 2023 (merits and reparations), § 136. 25 Curtis Francis Doebbler v. Sudan, ACHPR, Communication No. 236/2000, § 42. 26 Kabalabala Kadumbagula and Daud Magunga v. United Republic of Tanzania, ACtHPR, Application No. 031/2017, Judgment of 4 June 2024 (merits and reparations), § 101. 17