The ruling from 1978 stands.
The European Court of Human Rights has rejected an appeal by the Irish government over a ruling that the UK did not torture 14 men imprisoned without trial during the Troubles.
The men claimed that they had been subjected to torture by the British Army when they were held captive in 1971.
In a 1978 case taken against the UK by the Irish Government, the Court found that the UK violated the men’s rights to be free from inhuman and degrading treatment, but that the treatment the men suffered did not amount to torture. Amnesty International visited the detainees in 1971, and said they found clear evidence of torture.
The government were appealing the European Court’s ruling from earlier this year which said the new material presented had not demonstrated the existence of facts that were not known to the court at the time or which could have had a decisive influence on the 1978 judgement.
The men were subjected to ‘five techniques’ of hooding, stress positions, white noise, sleep deprivation and deprivation of food and water, as well as physical assaults and death threats during their imprisonment.
Amnesty International has described today’s ruling by a panel of five judges of the European Court of Human Rights as a “bitter blow”.
Grainne Teggart, Amnesty’s Northern Ireland Campaigns Manager, said: “Today’s decision is a bitter blow for the men and their families. The European Court has failed to let the Grand Chamber consider Ireland’s request to right a historic wrong.
“When Amnesty visited the detainees in 1971, we found clear evidence of torture. Our assessment has not changed in the years since and today’s decision does not change this. The torture of these men was approved at the highest level of Government. Justice is long overdue.
“We need an independent and effective investigation in line with the UK’s international human rights obligations. Those responsible for sanctioning and carrying out torture, at all levels, must be held accountable and, where possible, prosecuted.”
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