Article 3 of the ECHR establishes an absolute and unequivocal prohibition of torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
According to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), states have a positive obligation to take steps to ensure the protection of the right not to be subjected to such treatment. In the case of applicants for international protection, the ECtHR case law refers to a “widely accepted need” for special protection against treatment contrary to Article 3 of the ECHR, reflected in the practice of the UNHCR, the EU Reception Conditions Directive and the Geneva Convention.
In particular, issues of inhuman and degrading treatment arise when states fail to ensure adequate living conditions for new arrivals. In assessing the adequacy of conditions, the ECtHR takes into account the provision of food and shelter and the sanitary conditions provided by a State to persons who have lodged or intend to lodge an asylum application (see more on these issues in 1, 2, 3).
Additionally, the provisions of Directive 2013/33/EU on reception requirements for applicants for international protection, which have been transposed into national law, stipulate that EU Member States must ensure a basic standard of living and healthcare that protects the physical and mental health of newly arrived applicants who lack sufficient resources. In particular, Article 18 stipulates that accommodation may also be provided in shelters which must ensure an adequate standard of living.
However, the Commissioner for Human Rights after a five-day visit to the Samos Reception and Identification Centre in October 2019 found that conditions were overcrowded, and that medical care, hygiene and housing were inadequate (see more here). The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe Resolution 2280 (2019) has also expressed concern about sexual violence, exploitation and human trafficking. Finally, a report by the National Commission for Human Rights in cooperation with the European Network of National Human Rights Institutions (ENNHRI) stated that in January 2021, 7,208 people were staying at the Samos Detention Centre, which officially has the capacity to accommodate 648 people (see more here).
On 4 April 2023 the decision in the case A.D. v. Greece (application no. 55363/19) was delivered.
The case concerns the applicant’s living conditions at the Reception and Identification Centre of Samos. At the time the application was lodged, the applicant was pregnant.
The applicant complained about her living conditions, alleging a violation of Articles 3 and 8 ECHR (see more on the allegations in paragraphs 5-8). The ECtHR examined the complaints under Article 3.
The ECtHR recalled the absolute nature of the protection afforded by Article 3, and that whilst the pressure that mass migrant arrivals put on the states concerned should not be underestimated, this could not relieve a state of its obligations under Article 3.
Referring both to the observations and findings of international and national actors of overcrowded conditions, inadequate housing, medical assistance and sanitation services at the centre, as well as to the particular needs of the applicant given her pregnancy, the Court held that there had indeed been a violation of Article 3.
Respect for fundamental rights is one of the basic components of a state governed by the rule of law.
The fundamental rights that every citizen should enjoy are enshrined in the European Convention on Human Rights. It is a primary obligation of the State to respect these rights.
In this particular case, however, the European Court of Human Right found that the applicant’s conditions of residence, combined with her special need for care due to her pregnancy, were incompatible with the right to an adequate standard of living, and thus concluded that there had been a violation of Article 3 ECHR.
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