within the prison courtyard, a "privilege" that was previously denied to them. However, they were still denied visits as a policy, while their Arabo-Berber compatriots had the right to receive anyone, including their spouses. 74. Immediately after the release of the Arabo-Berbers, the black Africans were thrust back to the difficult gaol conditions to which they had previously been subjected, which consisted, remarkably, of keeping them chained in pairs during the whole day, with all inconveniences arising from such a situation, hard labour, fetching water, etc. These inhuman prison conditions, coupled with poor nourishment and lack of hygiene are said to be the cause of the above-mentioned deaths of four of their co-detainees (two military and two civilians). 75. The Mauritanian Human Rights Association claims violation of the following provisions of the African Charter of Human and Peoples' Rights: 1. Article 2: "Every individual shall be entitled to the enjoyment of the rights and freedoms recognized and guaranteed in the present Charter without distinction of any kind such as race, ethnic group, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national and social origin, fortune, birth or other status"; 2. Article 4: "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"; 3. Article 5: "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"; 4. Article 15: "Every individual shall have the right to work under equitable and satisfactory conditions, and shall receive equal pay for equal work"; 5. Article 16: "1. Every individual shall have the right to enjoy the best attainable state of physical and mental health; 2. "State Parties to the present Charter shall take the necessary measures to protect the health of their people and to ensure that they receive medical attention when they are sick"[[/span]]; 6. Article 19: "All peoples shall be equal; they shall enjoy the same respect and shall have the same rights. Nothing shall justify the domination of a people by another" . Law Admissibility 76. Communications 54/91, 61/91, 98/93, 96/93, 164/97 - 196/97 and 210/98 allege cases of grave and massive violations of human rights attributed to the Mauritanian State. 77. In the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, admissibility is governed by Article 56, which defines all the conditions that communications must meet in order to be considered. These criteria are applied with due regard to the specificity of each communication. The case under consideration, of which the Commission was seized through the present procedure, is a combination of four communications which it decided to consider together in view of the similarity of the facts related. The Commission had previously taken the same decision regarding communications submitted against Benin, Za?re and Rwanda (Cf. decisions on communications 16/88, 17/88, 18/88, 25/89, 47/90, 56/91, 100/93 Legal Assistance Group/ Za?re, and 27/89, 46/91, 49/91, 99/93 World Organisation against Torture, International Association of Democratic Jurists, International Commission of Jurists and Inter-African Human Rights Union / Rwanda). All these communications were submitted by non-governmental organisations and they all allege various violations that are inter-related and similar. 78. Article 56(1) of the Charter demands that anyone submitting communications to the Commission relating to human and peoples' rights must reveal their identity. They do not necessarily have to be the victims of such violations or members of their families. This characteristic of the African Charter reflects sensitivity to the practical difficulties that individuals can face in countries where human rights are violated. The national or international channels of remedy may not be accessible to the victims themselves or may be dangerous to pursue. 8