arbitrary detention, some of the prisoners were held in solitary confinement (paras. 5, 8, 10, 11 and 12). 116. The conditions of detention were, at the very least, bad. The prisoners were not fed; they were kept in chains, locked up in overpopulated cells lacking in hygiene and access to medical care (para. 12). They were burnt and buried in sand and left to die a slow death. Electrical shocks were administered to their genital organs and they had weights tied on to them. Their heads were plunged into water to the point of provoking suffocation; pepper was smeared on their eyes and some were permanently kept in small, dark or underground cells which got very cold at night (para 23). 117. Both within and outside the prisons, the so-called “Jaguar” position was the form of torture utilised, (see paras 20 and 22). The prisoners were beaten (paras 12 and 20) and their bodies burnt using various instruments (paras 20 and 22). The women were raped (para 20). 118. The government did not produce any argument to counter these facts. Taken together or in isolation, these acts are proof of widespread utilisation of torture and of cruel, inhuman and degrading forms of treatment and constitute a violation of article 5. The fact that prisoners were left to die slow deaths (para 10) equally constitutes cruel, inhuman and degrading forms of treatment prohibited by article 5 of the Charter. 119. Article 4 of the Charter stipulates that: Human beings are inviolable. Every human being shall be entitled to respect for his life and the integrity of his person. No one may be arbitrarily deprived of this right. 120. Following the November 1987 trial, which already violated the provisions of article 7, three army lieutenants were sentenced to death and executed (para 10). The trial itself constituted a violation of the African Charter. Furthermore, the Commission is of the view that the executions that followed the said trial constitute a violation of article 4. Denying people food and medical attention, burning them in sand and subjecting them to torture to the point of death point to a shocking lack of respect for life, and constitutes a violation of article 4 (see para 12). Other communications provide evidence of various arbitrary executions that took place in the villages of the River Senegal valley (see paras 18 and 19) and stress that people were arbitrarily detained between September and December 1990 (see para 22). The Commission considers that there were repeated violations of article 4. 121. Article 16 of the Charter states that: 1. Every individual shall have the right to enjoy the best attainable state of physical and mental health. 21