ECHR Judgment concludes that Belgium violated Article 13 together with Article 3 in Singh and Others v. Belgium
In today's Chamber Judgement in the case Singh and Others v. Belgium which is not final, the European Court of Human Rights held that there had been a violation of Article 13 (right to effective remedy) taken together with Article 3 (inhuman or degarding treatment) of the ECHR.
Principal facts
The case concerned a family of asylum seekers who claimed to belong to the Sikh minority in Afghanistan. Their asylum application was dismissed by the Belgian authorities, which did not believe them to be Afghan nationals. They complained in particular that their removal from Belgium to Moscow entailed a risk of refoulement to their country of origin, where they would face ill-treatment.
Decision of the Court
The Court found that copies of attestations from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Delhi – documents produced in support of their case – had been rejected by the Belgian authorities without sufficient investigation and that that had been at odds with the close and rigorous scrutiny required by the right to an effective remedy.
The Judgement is only available in French.
For more information in English, please read the press release below.