159. The Complainants submit that the Respondent State violated Article 5 in that, the Victims were held incommunicado and denied access to their families, lawyers and medical care by SSI agents. They State that they were beaten, tortured, blindfolded and occasionally hung from the ceiling by their arms and legs in painful positions by SSI agents who applied electrical shocks to several parts of their bodies. 160. Article 5 of the African Charter, reads, “Every individual shall have the right to the respect of the dignity inherent in a human being and to the recognition of his legal status. All forms of exploitation and degradation particularly slavery, slave trade, torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment and treatment shall be prohibited. Article 42 of the 1971 Constitution of Egypt stipulates that: “any citizen arrested, detained or whose freedom is restricted shall be treated in a manner concomitant with the preservation of his dignity. No physical or moral harm is to be inflicted upon him…”84 161. In order to analyse the allegation of torture by the Victims, the African Commission will look at what amounts to torture in accordance with the Charter and other international instruments. Article 60 of the Charter has drawn inspiration from broader international law to deal with specific issues. Substantive international jurisprudence and practice has therefore developed in recent years regarding the nature of the prohibition of torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and the obligations of states to protect its citizens against such treatment. 162. Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel or Inhuman or Degrading Treatment (CAT) has defined torture as: 84 See Articles 126 and 127 of the Penal Code. 47