"_CHP/i (~'~),6.~!jE~B 'o:mn>'iJ:. Human and Peoples' Rights Human Rights our Collective Responsibility them, A reasonable inference suggests that the authorities' measures were designed to punish, intimidate, and discourage the Victims from exercising their freedom of expression and assembly, The measures were unnecessary to preserve national security, disproportionate, and therefore amounted to a violation of Articles 9(2) and 11. Violation of Article 1: Obligations of Member States 256. The Complainants allege that the Respondent State has violated Article 1 of the African Charter. Article 1 of the African Charter provides that, "The Member States of the Organization of African Unihj parties to the present Charter shall recognize the rights, duties and freedoms enshrined in this Charter and shall undertake to adopt legislative or other measures to give effect to them. II 257. The Complainants submitted along The Social and Economic Rights Action Center (SERA C) v. Nigeria211 that compliance with the Charter entails both negative and positive obligations on the part of the State, stating further that the Charter recognises four levels of duties for a State to abide by, namely, to respect, protect, promote, and fulfil the rights of the Charter. 258.Unpacking the obligation to respect, the Complainant submitted that it entails that the State should refrain from interfering in the enjoyment of all fundamental rights. The Complainant further cited the Inter-American Court in Velasquez Rodriguez v Honduraso? that -any exercise of public power that violates the rights recognized by the Convention is illegal. Whenever a State organ, official or public entity violates one of those rights, this constitutes a failure of the duty to respect the rights and freedoms outlined in the Convention.213 259.The Complainants stated that the conclusion is independent of whether the organ or official has contravened provisions of internal law or overstepped the limits of his authority and that under international law, a State is responsible for the acts of its agents undertaken in its official capacity and for their omissions, even when those agents act outside the sphere of their authority or violate internallaw.214 2llComm. No. 155/96 2121ACtHR, Series C, No.4, Judgment of July 29, 1988, para 169 213ibid 214 Ibid, para 170 60 I P a g C ... Airican: • Union :;