PART B: Substantive Norms on Torture in the African Regional Human Rights System The prohibition against torture and ill-treatment is contained in a body of treaty and non-treaty norms applicable to African countries. It is additionally a customary norm of international law with jus cogens status, meaning that even for those States that have not ratified any treaties including the prohibition of torture, it remains an absolute and non-derogable obligation. Foremost among the relevant treaties is the African Charter. Similar prohibitions are contained in the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACRWC)158 and the African Women’s Rights Protocol.159 The binding standards contained in these instruments are discussed in more depth below. Another treaty adopted under OAU auspices, the Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa, prohibits refoulement or removal, in the context of refugee law and protection, to a country in which an individual’s ‘life, physical integrity or liberty would be threatened’. Although resolutions adopted by the Commission provide interpretative guidance to the treaty norms, they do not in themselves have binding authority.160 In Part XV below, the history and scope of ‘soft-law’ standards (such as resolutions) adopted under the OAU/AU are discussed. VII. Substantive Norms under the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights 1. Overview of Charter Provisions The foundations and scope of the guarantees of life and integrity of the human person are defined by several provisions in the African Charter. Article 5 of the Charter guarantees human dignity and prohibits torture in the following words:161 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. Article 5 is reinforced and supplemented by other Charter provisions, such as guarantees of equal protection under the law,162 the right to life and integrity, including the guarantee against ‘arbitrary deprivation’ of that right,163 the right to personal 158 ACRWC, supra note 22. 159 African Women’s Rights Protocol, supra note 22. 160 Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa, adopted by the Assembly of Heads of State and Government at its Sixth Ordinary Session on 10 September 1969, entered into force on 20 June 1974, OAU Doc. No. CAB/LEG/24.3, Article 2(3) [hereinafter ‘OAU Refugee Convention’]. 161 African Charter, supra note 9, Article 5. 162 Ibid., Article 3(2). 163 Ibid., Article 4. 47