debasement attaining a minimum level of severity. That level has to be assessed with regard to the circumstances of the case.”69 201. In the present Communication, the African Commission finds that the treatment against the Victims amount to physical and emotional trauma. The treatment also has physical and mental consequences obvious from 202. AC HP R the injuries sustained. Furthermore, the level of suffering occasioned by the acts perpetrated on the Victims which amount to inhuman and degrading treatment cannot be overlooked. It is the Commission‟s view that the acts were debasing and humiliating, sufficiently severe to fall within the ambit of the test provided by John K. Modise v Botswana and the European Court to establish inhuman and degrading treatment, and consequently, the scope of Article 5 of the African Charter. It is also the Commission‟s view that the Respondent State has conceded that the Victims were subject to inhuman and degrading treatment by admitting sexual molestation. 203. On the issue of investigation, the African Commission will like to make reference to its “Guidelines and Measures for the Prohibition of Torture, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment in Africa (the Robben Island Guidelines).”70 Article 17 of the Robben Island Guidelines provides that States should “Ensure the establishment of readily accessible and fully independent mechanisms to which all persons can bring their allegations of torture and ill-treatment,” while Article 19 provides that “Investigations into all allegations of torture or ill-treatment, shall be conducted promptly, impartially and effectively, guided by the UN 69 Campbell and Cosans v UK(1982) ECHR, para 28. 70 Adopted by the African Commission during its 32 nd Ordinary Session in 2002. 58

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