Jurisprudencial Analysis of Torture in Spain and in the European Human Rights System
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 33035
Jurisprudencial Analysis of Torture in Spain and in the European Human Rights System

Authors: María José Benítez Jiménez

Abstract:

Article 3 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (E.C.H.R.) proclaims that no one may be subjected to torture, punishment or degrading treatment. The legislative correlate in Spain is embodied in Article 15 of the Spanish Constitution, and there must be an overlapping interpretation of both precepts on the ideal plane. While it is true that there are not many cases in which the European Court of Human Rights (E.C.t.H.R. (The Strasbourg Court)) has sanctioned Spain for its failure to investigate complaints of torture, it must be emphasized that the tendency to violate Article 3 of the Convention appears to be on the rise, being necessary to know possible factors that may be affecting it. This paper addresses the analysis of sentences that directly or indirectly reveal the violation of Article 3 of the European Convention. To carry out the analysis, sentences of the Strasbourg Court have been consulted from 2012 to 2016, being able to address any previous sentences to this period if it provided justified information necessary for the study. After the review it becomes clear that there are two key groups of subjects that request a response to the Strasbourg Court on the understanding that they have been tortured or degradingly treated. These are: immigrants and terrorists. Both phenomena, immigration and terrorism, respond to patterns that have mutated in recent years, and it is important for this study to know if national regulations begin to be dysfunctional.

Keywords: European convention for the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms, European Court of Human Rights, sentences, Spanish Constitution, torture.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI): doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1478015

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1038

References:


[1] European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT). Text and explanatory report, 2002, p. 18.
[2] https://riuma.uma.es/xmlui/handle/10630/15928 Accessed 21/Jun/2018. University of Málaga requests its members to public in this link the material to be shared in Congresses.
[3] J. García Espinar, "Tabla de Derechos Humanos 2.0”. Cuadro de normas y mecanismos para la protección de los Derechos Humanos (Table of norms and mechanisms for the Protection of Human Rights), Revista de Educación Social (RES) nº 20 (2015).
[4] European Convention on Human Rights. Available at https://www.echr.coe.int/Documents/Convention_ENG.pdf Accessed 25/Jan/2018.
[5] M. Roig Torres., “Revisión del delito de tortura tras la reciente STEDH de 7 de octubre de 2014 de condena a España. El debate sobre la “tortura del rescate”, “Revista de Derecho penal y Criminología” 3ª Época, nº 11 (2014), pp. 295-364.
[6] CEJIL / APT, Torture in International Law, Guide to Jurisprudence, 2008, pp. 57 et seq.
[7] http://www.derechoshumanos.net/tortura/index.htm Accessed 14/Nov/2017.
[8] European Court of Human Right, “Overview 1959-2016”, Council of Europe, Strasbourg, March 2017.
[9] http://www.echr.coe.int/Pages/home.aspx?p=reports&c=#n1347956587550_pointer Accessed 14/Feb/2018
[10] R. Mirallés Ruiz-Huidobro, J. Saura Estapá (Coord.), “La jurisprudencia del Tribunal Europeo de Derechos Humanos relativa a España por torturas”, en “The Age of Human Rigths Journal” (HURI-AGE) Informe El tiempo de los Derechos, nº 31 (2013), pp. 1-45.
[11] http://www.mjusticia.gob.es/cs/Satellite/Portal/es/areas-tematicas/area-internacional/tribunal-europeo-derechos/jurisprudencia-tedh/articulo-prohibicion-tortura Accessed 20/Dec/2017.
[12] https://www.theguardian.com/law/2013/jul/09/whole-life-jail-sentences-without-review-breach-human-rights Accessed 21/Jun/2018.
[13] D. Boza Martínez, “Derecho de extranjería y jurisprudencias del Tribunal Constitucional, el Tribunal Europeo de Derechos Humanos y el Tribunal de Justicia de la Unión Europea”, en J. Arango,, D. Moya, J. Oliver (dir.), Inmigración y migración: mitos y realidades (2013), p. 281.