Exercise of violence in prison and the protection of the right to prisoners’ lives

JUDGMENT

Tekın and Arslan v. Belgium 05-09-2017 (no. 37795/13)

see here 

SUMMARY 

Exercising unnecessary violence against a prisoner with psychiatric problems with arm locks on behalf of police officers which resulted in the death of the prisoner violates the right to life. The Court held that Belgium had violated article 2 of the Convention.

PROVISION

Article 2

PRINCIPAL FACTS

The applicants, Ilhami Tekin and Döne Arslan, are two Belgian nationals who also have Turkish nationality. They were born in 1961 and 1960 and live in Charleroi and Anvers (Belgium). The case concerned the death of their son, Michael Tekin (born in 1978), in Jamioulx Prison in 2009.

Between 2007 and 2009 Michael Tekin was placed on three occasions in the psychiatric wing of Jamioulx Prison. On 3 July 2009 he was released, subject to a number of conditions. On 7 August 2009 the public prosecutor attached to the Charleroi Court of First Instance decided that he was to be returned to the psychiatric wing of Jamioulx Prison for failure to comply with the conditions of his release. He was placed in an individual cell in an ordinary section of Jamioulx Prison.

On 8 August 2009 the deputy prison governor decided to apply specific security measures to the applicants’ son for a seven-day period. Prison officer R., together with two other officers (L. and D.), were instructed to inform him about the measures in question. When notified, Michael Tekin allegedly provoked R. to such an extent that the three prison officers believed that they were about to be attacked. R. then decided to place Michael Tekin in an isolation cell. In order to remove him from his cell, R. used a restraint technique known as an “arm lock” (“clé de bras”); L. and D. helped him to maintain it while a dozen members of staff arrived as back up. On reaching the isolation cell the prison officers noted that Michael Tekin’s face was cyanotic. The medical staff intervened, unsuccessfully. Michael Tekin was pronounced dead at 12.50 p.m.

An investigation was opened automatically and the witnesses were questioned. An autopsy was carried out. In March 2012 R., L. and D. were sent for trial before the Charleroi Criminal Court, which acquitted them of manslaughter. Michael Tekin’s parents lodged an appeal in their capacity as civil parties. Those proceedings are pending before the Mons Court of Appeal.
Relying in particular on Article 2 (right to life) of the European Convention on Human Rights, Michael Tekin’s parents complained about their son’s death; they considered that the force used had been neither absolutely necessary nor proportionate.

THE DECISION OF THE COURT 

Violation of Article 2

Just satisfaction: 20,000 euros (EUR) (non-pecuniary damage) and EUR 6,000 (costs and expenses) to the applicants jointly(echrcaselaw.com editing).


ECHRCaseLaw
Close Popup

Χρησιμοποιούμε cookies για να σας προσφέρουμε καλύτερη εμπειρία στο διαδίκτυο. Συμφωνώντας, αποδέχεστε τη χρήση των cookies σύμφωνα με την Πολιτική Cookies.

Close Popup
Privacy Settings saved!
Ρυθμίσεις Απορρήτου

Όταν επισκέπτεστε μία ιστοσελίδα, μπορεί να λάβει κάποιες βασικές πληροφορίες από τον browser σας, κατά βάση υπό τη μορφή cookies. Εδώ μπορείτε να ρυθμίσετε τη συγκατάθεσή σας σε όλα αυτά.

These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources, so we can measure and improve the performance of our site.

Google Analytics
We track anonymized user information to improve our website.
  • _ga
  • _gid
  • _gat

Απορρίψη όλων των υπηρεσιών
Save
Δέχομαι όλες τις υπηρεσίες