ACHPR
African Commission on
Human and Peoples' Hiqhts
Human Rights our
Collective Besponsibititv
On the alleged of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment
133. The Commission notes that torture, by its very nature, is inhuman treatment,
due to the severity of the suffering and the objective pursued. 59 In Civil Liberties
Organisation v Nigeria, the Commission stated that, '[w]hile being held in a military
detention camp is not necessarily inhuman, there is the obvious danger that
normal safeguards on the treatment of prisoners will be lacking.w In the samecase,
the Commission emphasized that "[b]eing deprived of the right to see one's family is a
psychological trauma difficult to justifiJ, and may constitute inhuman treatment. Deprivation of
light, insufficient food and lack of access to medicine or medical care also constitute violations of
Article 5."
134. Further, to the above, in Abdel Hadi, Ali Radi & Others.» Republig;,Qj Sudan, the
Commission states that
Regarding the incommunicado detention, death threats, denial of access to medical care
and adequate toilet facilities, the Commission observes that holding a person in
detention under conditions that are not in keeping wi~}Jhis dignittj and pose a threat to
his health amounts to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishmentt'=
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135. In the present Communication, the Commission found above that the Victim
has been held in incommunicado detention with no access to a lawyer, or appropriate
health practitioners, despite his very serious health condition and his age
advanced age of ,73. The 'Commission
therefore considers that this amounts to
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inhuman and degrading treatment.
136. For these reasons, the Commission therefore finds that Article 5 of the African
Charter has been violated.
On the violation of the right to liberty
137.
Article 6 of the African Charter provides that:
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Curtis Francis Doebbler contra 0 Sudiio, Queixa 236/00, paragrafo 37.
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Civil Liberties Organisation v Nigeria, Communication 151/96, paras 26 and 27. <v
61 Abdel
Hadi, A, u Radi & Others v Republic of Sudan, Communication 368/09, patf~~
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