materials42 provides compelling, credible and consistent evidence corroborating the allegations of torture and ill-treatment of the Victim. 217. The acts of torture inflicted on the Victim were observed to be synonymous with the methods of torture identified in the Manual on the Effective Investigation and Documentation of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (the Istanbul Protocol)43 which include:44  blunt trauma, such as a punch, kick, slap, a beating with truncheons;  positional torture, using suspension, stretching limbs apart, prolonged constraint of movement, forced positioning; and  electric shocks. 218. Notably, the Commission has, in its jurisprudence, found that acts characterised amongst other things by severe beatings, credible threats and sleep deprivation resulted in severe physical and mental pain and suffering.45 219. Consequently, in consideration of the cumulative elements for an act of torture to take place, the methods of torture described under the Istanbul Protocol, and its jurisprudence on Article 5 of the Charter, the Commission finds that the Victim’s beatings, suspension from the ceiling, and electrocution amounted to torture. 220. The Commission recognises that distinguishing between acts of torture and acts of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment (ill-treatment) raises difficulties. It notes in this regard that the UN Committee against Torture has observed that the definitional threshold between ill-treatment and torture is often not clear.46 Thus, whilst noting that each situation is distinct, the Commission endorses the common understanding that ill-treatment is differentiated from torture by the degree of suffering involved, the intention of the perpetrator, and the victim’s vulnerability and powerlessness.47 221. In light of the above and since, in the instant case, the Commission has made a finding that acts of torture were inflicted on the Victim, it considers it unnecessary to make a finding on the lesser violation of ill-treatment. Fn 35 above. The 1999 Istanbul Protocol was developed to serve as an international guideline for the assessment of persons who allege torture and ill-treatment, for investigating cases of alleged torture, and reporting findings to the judiciary or any other investigative body. The Manual includes principles for effective investigation, and minimum standards for effective documentation of torture. 44 Istanbul Protocol, para 145. 45 Communication 379/09 - Monim Elgak, Osman Hummeida and Amir Suliman v. Sudan (2015) ACHPR para 99. 46 See UN Committee against Torture, General Comment No. 2: Implementation of Article 2 by State Parties (2008), para 3. 47 See UN Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture “Interpretation of Torture in the light of the practice and jurisprudence of international bodies” (2011) pp. 6 – 8; Redress “The Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment: A Guide to Reporting to the Committee against Torture” (2018) pp. 10 – 11. 42 43 33