122. Consequently, the Court finds that the Respondent State violated the Applicants right to be tried within a reasonable time as provided for under Article 7(1)(d) of the Charter. v. On the use of a coerced confession for conviction 123. The Second Applicant submits that under international law, a coerced confession is inadmissible at trial and may not be admitted as evidence. Therefore, the decision of the High Court to accept his statement as part of evidence and to rely on it to convict and sentence him gives rise to violations of Article 5 and 7 of the Charter, and Article 7 of the ICCPR. To illustrate this argument, he relies on various jurisprudence of the Human Rights Committee and other courts,59 and the Principles and Guidelines on the Right to a Fair Trial and Legal Assistance in Africa. 124. He avers that he testified about the torture during the “trial within a trial” before the presiding judge and his testimony was corroborated by the Magistrate Judge who recorded his extra judicial statement. He claims that despite the prima facie evidence that the statement was not recorded voluntarily, the Judge still admitted it as part of the evidence. He surmises that in his case, there was overwhelming evidence of the physical assault and psychological pressure applied to extract the incriminating statement, therefore, there can be no doubt that the Respondent State violated its obligations under Article 5 and 7 of the Charter, and Article 6, 7 and 14 of the ICCPR. * 125. The Respondent State submits that the Applicants were convicted and sentenced based on evidence which proved their guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. 59 Cabrera-Garcia and Montiel Flores v. Mexico, Preliminary Objection, Merits, Reparations and Costs, Judgment, IACtHR (ser. C) No. 220, § 166 (26 Nov. 2010)); Singarasa v. Sri Lank, European Court of Human Rights in Saman v. Turkey is instructive in this regard. The Saman and Singarasa judgments underscore the unreliability of coerced confessions, whether by torture or by other forms of manipulation or exploitation. 37