ECHR rules Cyprus Inadequate studies on rape allegations violate torture – lawyer

The European Human Rights Court decided on Thursday that the Cypriot authorities had violated torture and data protection rights of a British victim against the law because they did not carry out their rape allegations. The court came to the conclusion that “certain prejudices in relation to women in Cyprus” prevented the effective protection of the rights of women as victims of gender -specific violence.

The court decided that the Cypriot investigative and public prosecutor's authorities “do not correspond to the positive obligation of the state not to apply the responsible criminal law provisions in practice through effective investigations and persecution”. The defects included the incorrect translation of their refutation, the lack of legal representation during their detention, the failure to use DNA evidence that combine the three men with the crime, and the exclusion of witnesses they saw on the night of the incident.

The ineffective investigation not only led to the conclusion that the victim's allegations of rape were “unfounded”, but the Cypriot investigative authorities had further transferred their personal data without consent to the law firm in order to describe it with the crime of “public nonsense” by inventing the allegations.

The failure to carry out a proper examination violates Article 3 and 8 of the Convention to protect human rights and fundamental freedoms. Article 3 of the convention states that no individual may be exposed to torture, treatment or punishment that is inhumane or humiliating. Article 8 anchors the right of all to private and family life that the authorities cannot interfere, unless such an interference is justified by law and is considered necessary for convincing reasons such as national security, public security, etc.

The court also concluded that the specific prejudices against women in Cyprus, which were highlighted in this case, had hindered the effective protection of the rights of the applicant as a victim of gender -specific violence, and, if they remained unchanged, risked to create a climate of impunity that undermines the trust of the victims in the criminal justice system.

The court awarded the woman to 20,000 € in damages and € 5,000 in costs that are to be paid within three months.

Michael Polak, the victim's representative, explained that the judgment is important because it “increases the basic principle that allegations of sexual violence without institutional disability must be thoroughly and fairly examined”.

The British victim was raped by around 12 men at the age of 18 when he visited Ayia Napa in Cyprus in July 2019. The next day, the woman told the local police about rape, ten days later ten the accusation after hours of respondents without legal representatives and claimed that it was under pressure. She received a suspended sentence for the conviction of the “public nonsense”, which was later lifted by the Supreme Court of Cyprus in 2022. At the same time, the alleged perpetrators between the ages of 18 and 20 were acquitted.

The woman represented by the legal group abroad tried to reopen her case before Cyprical Budget Court, and claimed that the incident in Cyprus had violated her dignity and human rights. After the Cypriot authorities had refused to reopen the case, the organization applied to the European Health Court.