another person's act can only be available to the wealthy and those that can afford the services of private counsel. 54. Clearly the situation presented above fails to meet the standards of anti-discrimination and equal protection of the law as laid down under the provisions of Articles 2 and 3 of the African Charter and Principle 1(4)6 of the UN Principles for the Protection of Persons with Mental Illness and the Improvement of Mental Illnesses and the Improvement of Mental Health Care.7 55. The Complainants further submit that the legislative scheme of the LDA, its implementation and the conditions under which persons detained under the Act are held, constitute separately and together violations of respect for human dignity in Article 5 of the African Charter and the prohibition against subjecting anybody to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment as contained in the same Charter provision. 56. Article 5 of the African Charter provides: "Every individual shall have the right to the respect of 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." 57. Human dignity is an inherent basic right to which all human beings, regardless of their mental capabilities or disabilities as the case may be, are entitled to without discrimination. It is therefore an inherent right which every human being is obliged to respect by all means possible and on the other hand it confers a duty on every human being to respect this right. 58. In Media Rights Agenda/Nigeria,8 the African Commission held that the term 'cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment and treatment' is to be interpreted so as to extend to the widest possible protection against abuses, whether physical or mental; furthermore, in John K. Modise/Botswana9 , the African Commission stated that exposing victims to 'personal suffering and indignity' violates the right to human dignity. Personal suffering and indignity can take many forms, and will depend on the particular circumstances of each communication brought before the African Commission. 59. Under the LDA, persons with mental illness have been branded as 'lunatics' and 'idiots'. Terms, which without any doubt dehumanise and deny them any form of dignity in contravention of Article 5 of the African Charter. 60. In coming to this conclusion, the African Commission would like to draw inspiration from Principle 1(2) of the UN Principles for the Protection of Persons with Mental Illness and the Improvement of Mental Care. Principle 1(2) requires that "all persons with mental illness, or who are being treated as such, shall be treated with humanity and respect for the inherent dignity of the human person." 61. The African Commission maintains that mentally disabled persons would like to share the same hopes, dreams and goals and have the same rights to pursue those hopes, dreams and goals just like any other human being 10 . Like any other human being, mentally disabled persons or persons suffering from mental illnesses have a right to enjoy a decent life, as normal and full as possible, a right which lies at the heart of the right to human dignity. This right should be zealously guarded and forcefully protected by all States party to the African Charter in accordance with the well established principle that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. 11 62. The Complainants also submit that the automatic detention of persons considered 'lunatics' within the meaning of the LDA violates the right to personal liberty and the prohibition of arbitrary arrest and detention in terms of Article 6 of the African Charter. 63. Article 6 of the African Charter provides: "Every individual shall have the right to liberty and to the security of his person. No one may be deprived of his freedom except for reasons and conditions previously laid down by law. In particular, no one may be arbitrarily arrested or detained." 64. Article 6 of the African Charter guarantees every individual, be they disabled or not, the right to liberty and security of the person. Deprivation of such liberty is only acceptable if it is authorised by law and is compatible with the obligations of States Parties under the African Charter 12 . However, the mere mention of the phrase 'except for reasons and conditions previously laid down by law' in Article 6 of the African Charter does not mean that any domestic law may justify the deprivation of such persons' freedom and neither can a State party to the African Charter avoid its responsibilities by recourse to the limitations and claw back clauses in the African Charter 13 . Therefore, any domestic law that purports to violate this right should conform to internationally laid down norms and standards. 65. Article 6 of the African Charter further states that no one may be arbitrarily arrested or detained. Prohibition against arbitrariness requires among other things that deprivation of liberty shall be under the authority and supervision of persons procedurally and substantively competent to certify it. 5