(fr'\ACHPR 'i:iUJ(l1 d ~ African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights Human Rights our Collective Responsibility 203. The Commission also remain guided by its position in Curtis Doebbler v Sudan.i?' that determination of whether an act constitutes inhuman degrading treatment or punishment depends on the circumstances of the case and that the prohibition of torture, cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment is to be interpreted as widely as possible to encompass the widest possible array of physical and mental abuses. 204. As to the obligation of states, the Commission considers'Article 16(1) of the UN Convention against torture, which calls on States to Undertake to prevent in any territory under its jurisdiction other acts of cruet inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, which amount to torture as defined in article i;cregardl~'ss of who is the perpetrator, with official capacity or with no capacity. " 205. The Commission also considers Article 16(2) of the same Convention and adds that the provisions are without prejudice to the provisions of any other international instrument or national law which prohibits cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and holds along the view it took in Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights and Interights v. Egyptl72 that the spirit of the UN Convention Against Torture shall apply even in the context of the African Charter. 206. In the same line of reflection, as to what constitutes ill-treatment, the Commission also take the path it took in the Egyptian lnitiatioe'jor Personal Rights and Interights v. Egypt in particular, considering the European Court position in Ireland v UK173underscoring that an act will qualify as 'ill-treatment,' when it attain a minimum level of severity in terms of (i) the duration of the treatment: (ii) the physical effects of the treatment; (iii)the mental effects of the treatment; and (iv) the sex, age and state of health of the victim involved. 207. On the question of what constitutes "inhuman degrading treatment," the Commission again takes its view in Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights and Interights v. Egypt, citing l7lCommunication 236/2000, see also Communication 225/98 Huri-Laws v Nigeria and UN Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment 172 See, Paragraph 191-2 173 (1978) ECHR (Series A) para 162 481 P age ~(~<f~ AfricanI;') Union\ t.