expected to interact with its neighbours in ECOWAS, or any other sub regional group, where both the French and the English language continue to be lingua franca. 108. The mere accession or ratification of OHADA should not be deemed a violation of Article 2, unless the Respondent State had manifestly failed to take any steps to ameliorate the effects of the linguistic differences. The Respondent State has shown that it took measures, such as the training of magistrates, and translation of texts to address the discriminatory concerns. The OHADA ratification, however, resulted in the discrimination of Anglophone based companies and businesses, which could not open bank accounts unless they registered under OHADA. There was no response from the Respondent State on this issue. Nor were any measures taken to address this complaint. Notwithstanding the translation of OHADA into English, it was wrong for institutions, such as banks to force Southern Cameroon based companies to change their basic documents into French. The banks and other institutions could have dealt with the companies without imposing the language conditionality. Banking documents should have been translated into English. The Commission finds that the Respondent State failed to address the concerns of Southern Cameroonian businesses, which were forced to re-register under OHADA, and as such violated Article 2 of the African Charter. Allegation of violation of Article 3 109. The Complainants alleged violation of Article 3, which protects the individual’s right to equality before the law and equal protection of the law. African Commission notes that although the communication alleges violation of Article 3 of the African Charter, the Complainants did not specifically argue or bring evidence of any instance against the Respondent State. In the absence of such evidence, the African Commission cannot find violation of Article 3 of the Charter. Alleged violation of Article 4 110. The Complainants allege violations of Article 4, the right to life, inviolability of the human being, and the integrity of the person. They submit that the Respondent State committed violations against individuals in Southern Cameroon. The communication gives account of people who were killed by the police during violent suppressions of peaceful demonstrations, or died in detention as a result of the bad conditions and the ill-treatment in prison. 111. The Respondent State contends that the allegations are not substantiated by documentary evidence. No certificates to ascertain the cause of death, no forensic medical certificates, no investigation reports by human rights organisation were produced. It states further that “the catalogue published by the press organs of the SCNC and SCAPO cannot be considered as a reliable 11 th source”. The Respondent State however, admitted to the death of six people on the 26 March 1990, which occurred after a confrontation between security forces and demonstrators, whom it argued, were involved in an illegal political rally in Bamenda. 112. The African Commission observes that the parties do not have equal access to official evidence such as police reports, death certificates and forensic medical certificates. The Complainants endeavoured to inquire into the alleged violations and gave names of the alleged victims. The Respondent State restricted itself to questioning the reliability of the evidence presented by the Complainants. It did not deny the alleged violations. The Respondent State had the opportunity to inquire into the alleged violations. The Respondent State did not conduct such investigation and redress the victims, it thus failed to protect the rights of the alleged victims. The Commission finds that it violated Article 4 of the African Charter. Alleged violation of Article 5 113. The communication gives details of victims who were subjected to torture, amputations and denial of medical treatment by the Respondent State’s law enforcement officers, in violation of Article 5 of the African Charter. The Respondent State responded by stating that some SCNC and SCAPO members had perpetrated terrorist acts in the country, killing law enforcement officers, vandalising State properties, stealing weapons and ammunitions.