I:
Introduction
1.
State Parties to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights
(the African Charter) are obliged to ensure both in law and practice
that victims of violations of the human rights enshrined in the African
Charter have access to and obtain redress. The Africa Commission
on Human and Peoples’ Rights (the Commission) has confirmed
this obligation through its adopted instruments and jurisprudence.
Torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment or
treatment (torture and other ill-treatment) remains a serious concern
throughout the African continent and the Commission recognises
the challenges which victims of torture and other ill-treatment
experience in accessing and obtaining redress.
2.
This General Comment focuses on the right to redress for victims of
torture and other ill-treatment under Article 5 of the African Charter.
That Article provides:
.
“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 of man, particularly slavery,
slave trade, torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment and
treatment shall be prohibited.”
3.
Article 5 of the African Charter deals with a range of rights and
obligations which form part of the wider commitment to respect the
dignity inherent in every human being and the recognition of every
person’s legal status. Article 5 recognises that there is a mutually
reinforcing link between the right to dignity and the absolute
prohibition of torture and other ill-treatment.
4.
This General Comment is founded and guided by existing regional
and international norms and standards regarding the right to
redress for victims of torture and other ill-treatment. It reaffirms
and elaborates the jurisprudence of the Commission and relevant
instruments adopted by African Union (AU) Member States,
including in particular the African Charter, the AU Constitutive Act,
the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights
on the Rights of Women in Africa, and the African Charter on the
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