B.M. v. Greece

Court rulings

Type of violation

Detention type: Police Department; Border Guard Department; Special Holding Facility for Aliens

Summary of case: The applicant, an Iranian national, traveled through Turkey to reach Greece. As a militant journalist who participated in anti-establishment protests, the applicant experienced arrest and torture. Greek authorities denied his asylum claim and detained him in succession at the Alexandroupoli Police Department, the Feres Border Guard Department, the Venna Special Holding Facility for Aliens and the Soufli Border Guard Department pending deportation to Turkey. Officials dismissed his complaints regarding the conditions of his detention. The applicant also appealed against the refusal of his asylum claim but did not appear at the hearing, leading to the suspension of his appeal. Authorities ultimately released the applicant once he reached the maximum time in detention permissible under domestic law. Reports from numerous bodies such as the Committee for the Prevention of Torture, UNHCR, Greek Human Rights Commission and Greek Ombudsman supported the applicant’s claims of inhumane conditions at the detention sites. Moreover, the Greek government did not offer any rebuttal to these findings. With the addition of the lack of an effective remedy to challenge his detention conditions, the Court expressed that there was a violation of Article 3 and Article 13 in conjunction with Article 3, but no violation of Article 5(1).

Related detention centre

Link to external source: https://www.asylumlawdatabase.eu/en/content/ecthr-bm-v-greece-application-no-5360811#content

Supporting files