Сврха и принципи делотворне истраге мучења и других облика злостављања у праву и пракси Европске конвенције о људским правима
Purpose and Principles of an Effective Torture Investigation and Other Forms of Abuse in Law and Practice of the European Convention on Human Rights

Author(s): Vladimir V. Veković
Subject(s): Law, Constitution, Jurisprudence, Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, Studies in violence and power
Published by: Правни факултет Универзитета у Источном Сарајеву
Keywords: Prohibition of torture and other ill-treatment;Purpose and principles of effective investigation;Council of Europe;European Convention for the Protection of Human Right and Fundamental Freedoms;
Summary/Abstract: Torture and other forms of abuse occur both in societies that are undergoing a process of transition for a shorter or longer period of time, with more orless success, and in countries with a respectable democratic tradition. Althoughit is a positive procedural obligation of the CoE member states to conduct aneffective investigation into the alleged violation of Art. 3 of the Conventionestablished in 1998, they are, as it follows from the above, often neglected. Inthe period from 2003-2020 year, the Court passed as many as 943 judgmentsin which it found a violation of Art. 3 due to the lack of an effective investigation, which indicates that this is an extremely serious problem. Ignoring theprinciples discussed above makes it impossible to achieve the purpose of aneffective investigation and, consequently, leaves far-reaching consequences:the prohibition of torture and the commitment to eradicate impunity are reduced to rhetorical decoration; the absolute nature of the prohibition of torture and other ill-treatment is compromised; the deterrent effect is meaningless;public confidence in the rule of law is progressively atrophied; there is a growing suspicion of the existence of collusion and tolerance of illegal acts; the injured are deprived of adequate satisfaction, etc.Overcoming the identified problems requires undertaking numerous,well-designed and coordinated activities, of which the most important are:a) adoption and consistent application of new laws and regulations harmonized with the highest standards of the Council of Europe, which will be an adequate legal framework for effective prevention and suppression of torture and other forms of abuse; b) reform of the police and penitentiary services with effective external and internal control and oversight, and ensuring transparency to the extent that this does not jeopardize their activities; c)proper selection, continuous professional training and motivating employees to perform their duties professionally, developing awareness of the need to respect the innate and inalienable dignity of every human being and his rights and fundamental freedoms, eliminating racial, ethnic, religious and other prejudices, and emphasizing the importance of respecting professional codes ethics, as well as d) creating an atmosphere in which it will be considered appropriate to report a colleague who abuses a person deprived of liberty, because the guilt for abuse, in addition to the perpetrator of such an act, is borne by any person who knows, or should know, that a person deprived of liberty is abused. If we persevere in these efforts, we will also succeed in affirming the principle that the human being cannot be treated as a mere means, which arises from the growing and increasingly influential concept of anthropocentrism.

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