such acts were occurring.27 The Respondent State’s submissions are clear that the enforcement of pregnancy testing and expulsion have been employed throughout schools as part of the State’s efforts to discourage children from having sexual relations. Whereas the Respondent State alleges that it was not aware the illegal detention of pregnant girls had been occurring, it had been widely reported on and brought to the State’s attention by the Complainant and its national human rights institution.28 Furthermore, the police act on behalf of and are employed by the State and its alleged conduct is, therefore, a matter of State responsibility. The State thus had reasonable grounds to believe these illegal detentions were occurring and had an obligation in exercise of its responsibilities to investigate this matter. 33. Article 16 of the Charter obliges all State Parties ‘to take specific legislative, administrative, social and educational measures to protect the child from all forms of torture, inhuman or degrading treatment.’ The Committee, in determining what amounts to cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment, draws inspiration from the African Commission.29 The African Commission endorsed the definition of cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment as a treatment that causes mental or physical harm.30 Furthermore, gender-based violence is a form of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and includes ‘physical and psychological acts committed against victims without their consent or under coercive circumstances.’31 The Committee acknowledges the psychological harm and physical pain experienced by girls forced to undergo pregnancy tests as well as the humiliating manner in which many girls were subsequently expelled amounts to practices that are cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment. 34. The Charter recognises that, concerning illegal detention, the “last resort” and “shortest period of time” principles entail that strict limitations on deprivation of liberty (pre-trial and as a sentence) should be put in place and that alternatives to custody must be legislatively enshrined to ensure that custody is used as a last resort. 32 Considering the illegal detention of pregnant girls, which was employed to extract information from them, the UNCRC has previously been explicit that ‘no child shall be deprived of his/her liberty unlawfully or arbitrarily,’ and that the deprivation of liberty 27 ACERWC, Communication No 003/Com/001/2012, The Centre for Human Rights (University of Pretoria) and La Rencontre Africaine pour la Defense Des Droits de l’homme (Senegal) V. The Government of Senegal, para 66. 28 Complainant’s submissions on admissibility and merits, para 37; Commission for Human Rights and Good Governance, ‘Inspection Report for Children in Detention Facilities in Tanzania IX-XI’ (2011). 29 Article 46 of the ACRWC empowers the Committee to draw inspiration from International Law on Human Rights, particularly from the provisions of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the Charter of the Organization of African Unity, the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, the International Convention on the Rights of the Child, and other instruments adopted by the United Nations and by African countries in the field of human rights, and from African values and traditions. 30 ACHPR, Comm. 105/93, 128/94, 130/94, Media Rights Agenda v. Nigeria, Decision,152/96 (ACmHPR, Oct. 31, 1998) para 71. 31 ACHPR, General Comment 4 on the Right to Redress for Victims of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Punishment or Treatment (Article 5), para 58. 32 ACERWC General Comment on State Party Obligations General Comment No 5 on “State Party Obligations under the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (Article 1) and systems strengthening for child protection, section 5.3.2, page 24-25. JN 15