138. In the case of Tyrer v. United Kingdom, the European Court of Human
Rights addressed the incompatibility of corporal punishment with the right
to humane treatment under Article 3 of the European Convention for the
Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. The European
Court held that: “[t]he very nature of judicial corporal punishment is that it
involves one human being inflicting physical violence on another human
being. Furthermore, it is institutionalised violence, that is in the present case
violence permitted by the law, ordered by the judicial authorities of the State
and carried out by the police authorities of the State […] Thus, although the
applicant did not suffer any severe or long-lasting physical effects, his
punishment - whereby he was treated as an object in the power of the
authorities - constituted an assault on precisely that which it is one of the
main purposes of Article 3 to protect, namely a person’s dignity and physical
integrity.”40
139. The Court also observes that in Doebbler v Sudan, a communication
involving a complaint that the sentencing of eight students in Sudan to
between twenty-five (25) and forty (40) lashes violated Article 5 of the
Charter, the Commission held that “there is no right for individuals, and
particularly the government of a country to apply physical violence to
individuals for offences. Such a right would be tantamount to sanctioning
State sponsored torture under the Charter and contrary to the very nature
of this human rights treaty.”41
140. Recalling its jurisprudence, the Court reiterates that three main factors are
relevant in determining whether the right to dignity, as guaranteed under
Article 5 has been violated.42 First is to note that Article 5 has no limitation
provisions. This entails that the prohibition of cruel, inhuman and degrading
treatment or punishment is absolute. Second, the prohibition in Article 5
must be extended to provide the widest possible protection against abuse
be it physical or mental. Lastly, personal suffering and indignity can take
40
ECtHR, Tyrer v. United Kingdom, (5856/72), Judgment of April 25, 1978, Series A No. 26, § 33.
Communication No. 236/2000 § 42.
42 Lucien Ikili Rashidi v. United Republic of Tanzania (merits and reparations) (28 March 2019) 3 AfCLR
13, § 88.
41
33