Iran Human RightsStrasbourg Rejects Iranian Assurances Regarding Use of Torture

Strasbourg Rejects Iranian Assurances Regarding Use of Torture

-

The Strasbourg court

By Pooya Stone

Although Iranian authorities provided assurances that he would not be tortured, the European Court of Human Rights has held that the extradition of a man accused of theft to Iran would breach Article 3 of the human rights convention.

The Strasbourg court provides guidance on the kind of assurances required from the state requesting extradition in GS v Bulgaria (application no. 36538/17). It will not allow extradition unless the assurance is both specific and trustworthy. In this case, GS was wanted for theft, but if he was convicted, he was at risk of receiving corporal punishment — seventy-four lashes. The Strasbourg court would not allow extradition, because it labeled this manner of treatment as torture. In accordance with past case law, it found that the possibility of acquittal or the imposition of a different sentence was not sufficient to dispel the real risk of torture.

The key issue was the assurance provided by the Iranian authorities as part of the extradition request. It stated, without elaboration, that the Iranian authorities would not torture the applicant or subject him to inhuman or degrading treatment.

This assurance was rejected by the court because it was not convinced that the Iranian government regards flogging as torture. It ruled:

This assurance cannot be regarded as sufficient, for at least two reasons. First, the extradition request omitted to specify that Article 656 § 4 of the Iranian Penal Code envisaged not only imprisonment but also flogging as a type of punishment. This raises profound misgivings about the Iranian authorities’ trustworthiness in this matter. Secondly, it appears that those authorities do not regard flogging and other forms of corporal punishment as inhuman or degrading. Indeed, they recently publicly stated that they considered flogging as a legitimate form of punishment which has been “interpreted wrongfully, by the West, as … degrading” (see paragraph 47 above). The exact tenor of their assurance in that respect is thus quite uncertain.

The Strasbourg court doubted the genuineness of the assurance. Iran has repeatedly refused to comply with recommendations to remove flogging from its penal code and considers it to be an important part of its legal tradition.

Therefore, the European Court of Human Rights is responding to states with inferior human rights records by demanding higher quality assurances, before it will permit extradition, deportation, or removal. GS v Bulgaria is a reminder that a general statement of intention is not enough — particularly if it is made by a state which has disregarded human rights recommendations in the past.

Latest news

 Statistics show that New Year accidents’ deaths in Iran reached 585

Ahmad Shirani, the head of the Information and Traffic Control Center of the Iranian regime’s police, announced that the...

Land Subsidence in Critical Conditions in Isfahan

Mehdi Toghyani, a member of the Iranian regime’s Majlis (parliament), pointed to the occurrence of land subsidence in various...

Iran’s Actual Inflation Rate Higher Than Official Stats

The state-run Donya-e-eqtesad newspaper, in a report analyzing the "general sentiment" regarding inflation in 2023, has stated that households...

Iranian Workers’ Monthly $136 Wages Can’t Cover $500 Expenses

The lives of a significant portion of the Iranian population are marked by uncertainty, largely because the Iranian economy...

Iranian Nurses Earn Twice Their Wages in Ride-Hailing Services

Reza Aryanpour, a member of the regime’s Majlis (parliament) Health and Treatment Commission, highlighted the growing trend of nurses...

Iran: Unprecedented Record of 152 Million Liters of Gasoline Consumption Per Day

On March 19, Iran set a new historical record in gasoline consumption with 152 million liters consumed in one...

Must read

Clinton has no plan for ‘substantive’ Iran meeting

Reuters: U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has no...

Hezbollah learnt suicide bomb tactics from Iran – commander

Iran Focus: Tehran, Iran, Nov. 26 – Lebanon’s Hezbollah...

You might also likeRELATED
Recommended to you