approach reflects the Charter’s ambition to ensure a better life for all the people and peoples of Africa through its recognition of a wide range of rights, including the right to dignity, economic, social and cultural rights, and peoples’ rights such as the right to existence and the right to peace. It is also rooted in widely shared communal values of the continent, according to which the value of one person’s life is tied to the value of the lives of others. (4) Article 4 of the Charter enshrines the right to life as follows: ‘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.’ Other African legal instruments protecting the right to life include: Article 4 of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa; and Articles 5 and 30 of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child. A. The nature of the right and of the obligations of the State in respect of the right to life (5) The right to life is universally recognised as a foundational human right. It is guaranteed by Article 4 of the African Charter and all of the other main global and regional human rights instruments. The right not to be arbitrarily deprived of one’s life is recognised as part of customary international law and the general principles of law, and is also recognised as a jus cogens norm, universally binding at all times. The right to life is contained in the constitutions and other legal provisions of the vast majority of African and other States. All national legal systems criminalise murder, and arbitrary killings committed or tolerated by the State are a matter of the utmost gravity. (6) The right to life should not be interpreted narrowly. In order to secure a dignified life for all, the right to life requires the realisation of all human rights recognised in the Charter, including civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights and peoples’ rights, particularly the right to peace. (7) States have a responsibility under the Charter to develop and implement a legal and practical framework to respect, protect, 8