76. Holding the victims incommunicado for over three years demonstrates a prima facie violation of due process of the law and in particular, Article 7 of the African Charter. By not taking any action to remedy the situation more than twelve months after the African Commission had been seized of the communication goes to demonstrate that the State has equally failed to demonstrate that domestic remedies are available and effective. 77. Another rationale for the exhaustion requirement is that a government should have notice of a human rights violation in order to have the opportunity to remedy such violation, before being called to account by an international tribunal. The African Commission is of the view that the State has had ample time and notice of the alleged violation to at least charge the detainees and grant them access to legal representation. However, if it is shown that the State has had ample notice and time within which to remedy the situation, even if not within the context of the domestic remedies of the State, as is the case with the present communication, the State may still be said to have been properly inform[ed] and is expected to have taken appropriate steps to remedy the violation alleged. The fact that the State of Eritrea has not taken any action means that domestic remedies are either not available or if they are, not effective or sufficient to redress the violations alleged. 78. The African Commission would like in this regard to refer to its decision in 17 Communication 18/88 which concerned the detention and torture of the Complainant for more than seven years without charge or trial, the denial of food for long periods, the blocking of his bank account, and the use of his money without his permission. The African Commission held that in such circumstances it is clear that the State has had ample notice of the violations and should have taken steps to remedy them. The African Commission would also like to restate the position taken in 18 communication 250/2002. . In that communication, the African Commission was of the view that the situation as presented by the Respondent State does not afford due process of law for protection of the rights that have been alleged to be violated; the detainees have been denied access to the remedies under domestic law and have thus been prevented from exhausting them. Furthermore, there has been unwarranted delay in bringing these detainees to justice. 79. The situation as presented by the Respondent State does not afford due process of law for protection of the rights that have been alleged to be violated; the detainees have been denied access to the remedies under domestic law and have thus been prevented from exhausting them. Furthermore, there has been unwarranted delay in bringing these detainees to justice. 80. In the Albert Mukong case, the Human Rights Committee held that “a State party to the Covenant, regardless of its level of development, must meet certain minimum standards regarding 19 conditions of detention”. This reasoning of the Human Rights Committee can also include the fact that a State party to the African Charter “regardless of its level of development must meet certain minimum standards regarding fair trial or due process conditions”. The Committee concluded that “the legitimate objective of safeguarding and indeed strengthening national unity under difficult political 20 circumstances cannot be achieved by attempting to muzzle … democratic tenets and human rights”. 81. The continuous incommunicado detention of the victims without charge bars them from any legal representation and makes it difficult for the Complainant or any person interested in assisting them from attempting whatever domestic remedies might be available. To leave the detainees to languish in detention forever because of the inadequacy of the State’s criminal justice system or because there is no one to access the domestic courts on their behalf would be grossly unjust, if not unfair. 82. In the absence of any concrete steps on the part of the State to bring the victims to court, or to allow them access to their legal representatives three years after their arrest and detention, and more than one year after being seized of the matter, the African Commission is persuaded to conclude that domestic remedies, even if available, are not effective and/or sufficient. For this reason, the African Commission declares the communication admissible.