The European Court of Human Rights has ordered Cyprus to pay €5,000 in non-pecuniary damages to a Moroccan asylum seeker, after unanimously finding a violation of Article 5 § 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The court held that the man's detention at the Menogeia Detention Centre for more than a year was not sufficiently linked to preventing unauthorised entry into the country and lasted longer than necessary for that purpose.
The application
The application against the Republic of Cyprus was lodged with the court on 13 February 2025 by a Moroccan national, identified as K.A., who was born in 1966 and lives in Oroklini.
It concerned his detention on national security grounds from 10 January 2019 to 24 February 2020 at the Menogeia Detention Centre, as well as the domestic proceedings through which he challenged that detention.
The applicant complained under Article 5 § 1, which safeguards the right to liberty, about the lawfulness of his detention, which he considered arbitrary, among other reasons, because of its length.
The court's assessment
The judgment was delivered on Thursday by the court's Fifth Section.
In its ruling, the court said there was no indication that the place or conditions of detention were unsuitable, or that the authorities had acted in bad faith.
However, it pointed to a lack of clarity among the domestic authorities regarding the purpose of the applicant's detention.
The court also noted that the authorities already had the information needed to assess the applicant's asylum application, and potentially to reject it on national security grounds, from the day his detention was ordered. A swift examination of the application and the issuing of a final decision would have served the interests of both the applicant and the state, it added.
Finding on Article 5 § 1
The court found that K.A.'s detention was not sufficiently linked to preventing unauthorised entry into the country, and that its duration exceeded the time reasonably required for that purpose.
It noted that the asylum application was not particularly complex, and that there had been no progress in its judicial examination.
On that basis, the court unanimously held that there had been a violation of Article 5 § 1 of the Convention.
Compensation
The court ruled that Cyprus must pay the applicant, within three months, the following amounts:
€5,000 in respect of non-pecuniary damage, and €3,750 for costs and expenses.
No violation of Article 5 § 4
The court found no violation of Article 5 § 4, which guarantees the right to have the lawfulness of detention reviewed by a court.
It rejected the applicant's complaint that the non-disclosure of classified material had prevented him from effectively challenging the lawfulness of his detention.
Source: CNA
