The Prohibition of Torture and Ill-treatment in the African Human Rights System: A HANDBOOK FOR VICTIMS AND THEIR ADVOCATES evictions and destruction of housing carried out by non-State actors amounts to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment if the State fails to protect victims from such a violation of their human rights’.206 In this case, the Commission held that the State’s failure to protect civilians from forced evictions ‘was cruel and inhuman and threatened the very essence of human dignity’, finding a violation of Article 5 of the Charter.207 In light of the fact that the Charter does not include a provision on the right to housing, it is significant that the Commission has used the protections under Article 5, in particular the right to human dignity to uphold economic, social and cultural rights such as the right to housing.208 The ECOWAS Community Court of Justice has also elaborated on the meaning of ‘human dignity’, and acts which would constitute a breach of an individual’s right to human dignity. The case of Djot Bayi & 14 Others v. Nigeria & 4 Others involved fifteen applicants who were members of a shipping vessel crew. Their vessel was stopped by the Nigerian military and the crewmembers were arrested on suspicion of illegal oil trading in violation of Nigerian law. The applicants alleged that they were paraded before the Nigerian and international press by the State that claimed they were guilty on all charges, before any trial had taken place, and that the resulting damage to their reputation amounted to a violation of their right to human dignity under Article 5 of the Charter. The ECOWAS Court held that while the State’s negative publicity actions were indicative of the State’s ‘excesses during the preliminary enquiry’, they did not amount to a violation of the right to human dignity.209 d. Conditions of Detention Conditions of detention are the most frequently alleged violations of Article 5. The conditions of detention alleged in communications decided by the Commission may be subdivided into two groups: those of a more systemic nature that pertain to ‘physical’ or ‘psychological’ ‘conditions’ and those related to the bare necessities of life (or ‘socio-economic rights’) such as food, water and medical attention. Physical conditions amounting to inhuman and degrading treatment may take the following forms: darkness, airless or dirty cells or overcrowding. In one case, the Commission held that confining detainees in a ‘sordid and dirty cell under 205 Committee Against Torture, Hajrizi Dzemajl et al. v. Yugoslavia, Comm. No. 161/2000, 29th Ordinary Session (21 November 2002). 206 ACHPR, Sudan Human Rights Organisation and COHRE v. Sudan, Comm. Nos. 279/09 & 296/05, para. 159. 207 Ibid. at para. 164. 208 For further information regarding jurisprudence relating to economic, social and cultural rights, see: M. Langford (ed.), Social Rights Jurisprudence: Emerging Trends in International and Comparative Law. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge (2009). 209 ECOWAS Court of Justice, Djot Bayi & 14 Others v. Nigeria & 4 Others, App. No. ECW/CCJ/APP/10/06 (2009). 56