The prohibition of torture - European Court of Human Rights

In cases of torture, where ill-treatment is inflicted
for the purpose of obtaining information or
a confession, then the violation is most likely to occur
during the initial arrest period, when interviews
or interrogations are taking place. This is more
likely to be a police station than a prison. This is
also reflected in the cases which have come before
the Court, and the experience of the CPT who
noted that
The CPT wishes to stress that, in its experience,
the period immediately following the deprivation
of liberty is when the risk of intimidation
and physical ill-treatment is at its greatest. 44
The CPT has also noted that for both adults
and juveniles, the risk of being deliberately illtreated
is higher in police establishments than in
other places of detention. 45
The interpretation and application of Article 3
in accordance with the principle that the Convention
is a “living instrument which must be interpreted
in the light of present-day conditions”
means that certain acts which had previously been
classified as “inhuman and degrading treatment”
as opposed to “torture” might be classified differently
in future. In Selmouni v. France the Court noted:
… the increasingly high standard being required
in the area of the protection of human
rights and fundamental liberties correspondingly
and inevitably requires greater firmness
in assessing breaches of the fundamental values
of democratic societies. 46
This was endorsed by the Court in Dikme. 47
Since the mid-1990s, the Court has been
seized again with allegations that individuals have
been victims of torture in the detention centres of
member states. There here are a number of cases
where behaviour has been deemed to constitute
torture under the Convention. These include:
Palestinian hanging: suspension by the arms,
tied behind the back (Aksoy v. Turkey 48 )
severe forms of beating (Selmouni v. France,
Dikme v. Turkey)
severe beatings, combined with denial of medical
treatment (Ilhan v. Turkey)
electric shocks (Akkoç v. Turkey)
rape (Aydin v. Turkey)
falaka/falanga: beatings on the soles of the feet
(Salman v. Turkey, Greek case 49 )
In the cases of Tomasi, Ribitsch, and Tekin
amongst others, the Court found that the detainees
had been subjected to inhuman treatment in
the form of beatings.
All of these cases happened during periods of
detention. This reinforces how essential it is that,
at this stage of detention, the legal system should
provide fundamental safeguards against ill-treatment.
The three key safeguards are
44 6th General Report of the
CPT (1996), para. 15, and
similar comments in 9th General
Report of the CPT
(1999), para. 23.
45 9th General Report of the
CPT, para. 23.
46 Selmouni.
47 Op. cit., §92.
48 Aksoy v. Turkey judgment of
18 December 1996, Reports
1996-VI.
49 Greek case, Commission
Report of 5 November 1969,
Yearbook 12.
24