82 GENDER PERSPECTIVES ON TORTURE: Law and Practice Although the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACPHR) has issued several judgments finding States in violation of their obligations to carry out effective investigations of allegations of torture146, a limited analysis has been done with regard to gendered forms of torture. For example, in the case of the Commission, Malawi Africa Association and Others v. Mauritania147, different acts committed by state officials, as well as rape of female prisoners, were considered a violation of Article 5 of the African Charter148. Furthermore, on one hand, the case of Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights and INTERIGHTS v. Egypt is emblematic as the first case to address women’s rights. The case was brought before the ACPHR on May 18, 2006.149 The complainants submitted that four women journalists were subjected to insults and violence, including sexual violence, at the hands of supporters of the NDP political party, and harassment and attacks by police while they were covering protests held on May 25, 2005.150 The Commission considered that clear acts of gender-based violence were committed against the four victims,151 and that these acts constituted discrimination, torture, and inhuman and degrading acts. Furthermore, Egyptian authorities, despite witnessing these acts of violence, not only failed to act to protect the women, but actually encouraged the attacks as part of a pattern of “systematic sexual violence targeted at the women,” failing to fulfill their duty to investigate the acts of torture with due diligence: “Article 4(c) of the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women, adopted by the General Assembly provides that States should, ‘Exercise due diligence to pre­ vent, investigate and, in accordance with national legislation, punish acts of violence against women, whether those acts are perpetrated by the State or by private persons’ (…) It is the African Commission’s opinion that the Respondent State failed to investi­ gate and prosecute the perpetrators who committed gender-specific violations against the Victims. Failure to investigate effectively, with an outcome that will bring the per­ petrators to justice, shows lack of commitment to take appropriate action by the State (…) failure to investigate compromises an international responsibility on the part of the Respondent State, both in the case of crimes committed by agents of the State and those committed by private individuals. (…) The Respondent State therefore owed an obli­ their lands, which were then confiscated by the Government. The communication also alleged that some detainees had, among other things, been starved to death, left to die in severe weather without blankets or clothing and were deprived of medical attention.” 146 African Commission on Human and People´s rights, Communication 368/09, Abdel Hadi, Ali Radi & Others v. Republic of Sudan. November (2013) http://www.achpr.org/communications/decision/368.09/; Communication 245/02 Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum / Zimbabwe (2006). http://caselaw.ihrda. org/doc/245.02/view/en/#facts; Communication 204/97, Mouvement burkinabé des droits de l’Homme et des peuples / Burkina Faso (2011). http://caselaw.ihrda.org/doc/204.97/. 147 ACHPR, Malawi Africa Association and Others v. Mauritania, Comm. Nos. 54/91, 61/91, 98/93, 164-169/97 & 210/98, 27th Ordinary Session (11 May 2000). 148 OMCT Handbook series.–The Prohibition of Torture and Ill-Treatment in the African Human Rights System: A Handbook for Victims and their Advocates (volume 3), p.53. 149 African Commission on Human and Peoples´ Rights Communication 323/06: Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights and INTERIGHTS v. Egypt, 12-16 December 2011. http://www.achpr.org/files/sessions/10th-eo/ comunications/323.06/achpreos10_232_06_eng.pdf. 150 ACHPR, Communication 323/06: Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights and INTERIGHTS v. Egypt, paras. 3-22. 151 “The physical assaults described above are gender-specific in the sense that the Victims were subjected to acts of sexual harassment and physical violence that can only be directed to women. For instance, breasts fondling and touching or attempting to touch ‘private and sensitive parts’. There is no doubt that the Victims were targeted in this manner due to their gender,” para. 144.