European Court of Human Rights Judgment: El-Masri v. The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia

[On 13 December 2012, the European Court of Human Rights issued a unanimous ruling in El-Masri v Macedonia, which condemns the role played by Macedonian officials in assisting the CIA's "extraordinary rendition" of German citizen Khaled el-Masri. He was detained while traveling through Macedonia on 31 December 2003, held incommunicado for twenty-three days at the Americans' request, then turned over to the CIA at the Skopje airport. Under the watch of Macedonian officials, el-Masri was severely beaten, sodomized with a tranquilizer, shackled, and hooded by a CIA rendition team. From there, he was transported to Afghanistan and imprisoned in the black site known as the Salt Pit for five months. Although the US is not subject to the jurisdiction of the ECHR, this decision is an important condemnation of the CIA's torture and kidnapping program in the "war on terror," as well as a rebuke of US courts for failing to provide any manner of justice to el-Masri or other victims of US torture.]

Final Rulings

The Court unanimously: 

1. Dismisses the Government’s preliminary objection of non-compliance with the six-month rule;
2. Declares the complaints under Articles 3, 5, 8 and 13 of the Convention admissible and the remainder of the application inadmissible;
3. Holds that there has been a violation of Article 3 of the Convention in its procedural aspect on account of the failure of the respondent State to carry out an effective investigation into the applicant’s allegations of ill- treatment;
4. Holds that there has been a violation of Article 3 of the Convention by the respondent State on account of the inhuman and degrading treatment to which the applicant was subjected while being held in the hotel in Skopje;
5. Holds that the respondent State is responsible for the ill-treatment to which the applicant was subjected at Skopje Airport and that this treatment must be classified as torture within the meaning of Article 3 of the Convention;
6. Holds that the responsibility of the respondent State is engaged with regard to the applicant’s transfer into the custody of the United States authorities despite the existence of a real risk that he would be subjected to further treatment contrary to Article 3 of the Convention;
7. Holds that the applicant’s detention in the hotel for twenty-three days was arbitrary, in breach of Article 5 of the Convention;
8. Holds that the respondent State is responsible under Article 5 of the Convention for the applicant’s subsequent captivity in Afghanistan;
9. Holds that the respondent State failed to carry out an effective investigation into the applicant’s allegations of arbitrary detention, as required under Article 5 of the Convention;
10. Holds that there has been a violation of Article 8 of the Convention;
11. Holds that there has been a violation of Article 13 of the Convention on account of the lack of effective remedies in respect of the applicant’s grievances under Articles 3, 5 and 8 of the Convention;
12. Hold (a) that the respondent State is to pay the applicant, within three months, EUR 60,000 (sixty thousand euros), plus any tax that may be chargeable, in respect of non-pecuniary damage; (b) that from the expiry of the above-mentioned three months until settlement simple interest shall be payable on the above amount at a rate equal to the marginal lending rate of the European Central Bank during the default period plus three percentage points;
13. Dismisses the remainder of the applicant’s claim for just satisfaction.

[Click here to download the full judgment.]