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Belgium condemned for detaining children |
The European Court of Human Rights, in a judgment issued on 19th January, condemned the state of Belgium for the detention of four Chechen children.
The four children and their mother, Aina Mushkhadzhiyeva, arrived in Belgium in October 2006 and claimed asylum there after fleeing from Grozny. The applicants had previously spent time in Poland, and as a result the Polish authorities agreed to take them back under the Dublin Regulation. In December 2006, the Belgian authorities transferred the family from an open reception reception to "Transit Centre 127bis", a closed detention facility located near Brussels National Airport. The family was detained for one month and was subsequently transferred to Poland, where they now live in a refugee camp in Debak-Podkowa Lesna.
The family's two appeals for release were rejected on 5 January 2007 and on 23 January 2007. Between these two judgments Médecins sans frontières carried out a psychological examination of the applicants and found that, especially for the children, serious signs of psychological damage and psychotraumatic symptoms were found. On the same day that the family was transferred to Poland, on 27 January 2007, they lodged a cassation appeal. On 21 March 2007 the Court of Cassation found the appeal "devoid of purpose" since the family was already sent back to Poland. A report by a psychologist in Poland confirmed the children's severe psychological state as a result of their detention in Belgium.
Relying on the European Convention of Human rights, the family complained of
- The unsuitable conditions they experienced in detention (Article 3, prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment);
- The unlawfulness of their detention (Article 5.1, liberty and security of person)
- The ineffectiveness of their judicial remedy (Article 5.4, judicial remedy)
The Court judged that Belgium is
- In violation of Article 3 in relation to the detention of the four children, but not to the detention of the mother.
- In violation of Article 5.1 with respect to the detention of the four children at 127bis, because the centre is unsuitable for the detention of children. The mother's detention was not found to be unlawful.
- Not violation of Article 5.4, because the family received two decisions on their appeals while they were still in Belgium. The court found this to be sufficient.
The Court awarded the family 17.000 EUR under Article 41 (just satisfaction).
For more information see
ECtHR press release, 19 January 2010
ECtHR judgment, Mushkhadzhiyeva and others v. Belgium
La Libre, Asile: La Belgique au pilori européen, 20 January 2010
La Libre, La Belgique aurait pu éviter cette humiliation, 20 January 2010
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