208. Consequently, the Court holds that the Respondent State violated the Applicants’ right to life as provided under Article 4 of the Charter,104 by imposing the mandatory death penalty, thereby limiting the discretion of the judicial officer to sentence the accused. ii. Allegation on the imposition of the death penalty on persons suffering from mental illness or disorders 209. The Applicants both submit before this Court that they suffer from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which is a severe mental illness thereby making them ineligible for the death penalty. While the First Applicant does not provide a medical report to substantiate his claim the Second Applicant does. The Second Applicant avers that he suffers from mental illness,105 which the domestic courts failed to identify as they did not take any steps to ascertain whether he was mentally fit to stand trial through a psychiatric evaluation prior to imposing the death penalty. Furthermore, that, the medical evaluation done by trained psychologists engaged by his counsel for purposes of determining his mental status before this Court, Dr. Lema and Dr. Susan Knight, confirmed the diagnosis. 210. Relying on various jurisprudence, the Applicants argue that persons suffering from severe mental disability, mental retardation or extremely The United Nations Human Rights Committee has stated that “the mandatory and automatic imposition of the death penalty constitutes an arbitrary deprivation of life in violation of article 6, § 1, of the [ICCPR], in circumstances where capital punishment is imposed without any possibility of taking into account the personal circumstances of the accused or the circumstances surrounding the crime in question”. The United Nations Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions has stated that “in no case should the law make capital punishment mandatory, regardless of the facts of the case” and the Special Rapporteur, that “the mandatory imposition of the death penalty, which excludes the possibility of imposing a lighter sentence in any circumstances, is incompatible with the prohibition of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment”. In its resolution 2005/59, adopted on 20 April 2005, the United Nations Human Rights Committee urged States that continue to apply the death penalty to “ensure that … the death penalty is not imposed … as a mandatory sentence”. 105 The 1st Medical report by Dr Isaac Lema, a Clinical Psychologist & Assistant Lecturer at Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences (MUHAS) in Tanzania, concludes that Abdul the 2nd Applicant, Abdul Karim suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The 2 nd Medical Report by Dr. Susan C. Knight, a clinical psychologist with a specialization in forensic psychology, and is board certified in Forensic Psychology through the American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP), specializing in criminal and civil forensic psychological evaluations including the assessment of legal competencies, criminal responsibility and mental state supported the findings in Dr Lema’s report. 104 59