Alleged Violation of Article 4 201. While the African Commission affirms that a higher threshold of rights is intended for those who are charged with capital offences, 57 and that the imposition of capital punishment in breach of the due process guarantees under Article 7 of the Charter constitutes a violation of the right to life protected by AC HP R Article 4 of the Charter,58 the African Commission finds that there were no such breaches of due process guarantees under Article 7 of the African Charter in the instant case to warrant a violation of Article 4 of the African Charter. 202. While further affirming that capital punishment would also constitute a violation of Article 4 of the African Charter where the imposition of death sentence is disproportionate to the gravity of the offence committed, 59 the African Commission holds that the imposition of the death penalty to the „most serious crimes‟ would not constitute a violation of the right to life protected under Article 4 of the African Charter.60 203. Although the African Charter and the African Commission‟s Resolution on the Death Penalty61 does not afford a definition of what constitutes „most serious crimes‟, the African Commission holds that the phrase „most serious crimes” should be interpreted in the most restrictive and exceptional manner possible and that the death penalty should only be considered in cases where Communication 218/98, Civil Liberties Organization, Legal Defence Centre, Legal Defence and Assistance Project v. Nigeria, Para. 34 58 Communications 137/94, 156/96, and 161/97 International Pen and Others (on behalf of SaroWiwa) v. Nigeria, Para. 78; Communication 61/91, 98/93, 164/97 à 196/97 and 210/98, Malawi African Association and Others v. Mauritania, Para. 120; and Human Rights Committee, General Comment No. 32, Para. 59. 59 Communication 240/2001 Interights et al. (on behalf of Bosch) v. Botswana, Para, 50 60 See Thirteenth Annual Activity Report of the African Commission on Human and Peoples‟ Rights, OAU Doc AHG/Dec 153 (XXXVI) annex IV 61 Ibid 57 56