SELMOUNI v. FRANCE JUDGMENT 26 complaint together with an application to join the proceedings as a civil party is never a remedy which must be used in the event of an allegation of ill-treatment during police custody, the Court decides that the Government’s objection on grounds of failure to exhaust domestic remedies cannot be upheld. B. Merits of the complaint 1. The Court’s assessment of the facts 82. The applicant complained that he had been subjected to various forms of ill-treatment. These had included being repeatedly punched, kicked, and hit with objects; being forced to kneel down in front of a young woman to whom an officer had said “Look, you’re going to hear somebody sing”; having a police officer show him his penis, saying “Here, suck this”, before urinating over him; being threatened with a blowlamp and then with a syringe; etc. The applicant also complained that he had been raped with a small black truncheon after being told “You Arabs enjoy being screwed”. He stressed that his allegations had neither varied nor been inconsistent during the entire proceedings and submitted that the expert medical reports and the evidence heard from the doctors who had examined him established a causal link with the events which had occurred while he had been in police custody and gave credibility to his allegations. 83. The Commission considered that the medical certificates and reports, drawn up in total independence by medical practitioners, attested to the large number of blows inflicted on the applicant and their intensity. 84. In their memorial the Netherlands Government agreed with the Commission’s analysis of the facts. 85. In their observations in the alternative on the merits of the complaint, the French Government pointed out that there had not yet been a final ruling in respect of the offences alleged and that the police officers in question should have the benefit of the presumption of innocence, in accordance with Article 6 § 2 of the Convention. 86. The Court refers to its established case-law according to which, under the scheme of the Convention in force prior to 1 November 1998, the establishment and verification of the facts was primarily a matter for the Commission (former Articles 28 § 1 and 31). Accordingly, it was only in exceptional circumstances that the Court used its powers in this area. The Court is not, however, bound by the Commission’s findings of fact and remains free to make its own appreciation in the light of all the material before it (see, inter alia, the following judgments: Cruz Varas and Others v. Sweden, 20 March 1991, Series A no. 201, p. 29, § 74; McCann and Others v. the United Kingdom, 27 September 1995, Series A no. 324, p. 50, § 168; and Aksoy cited above, p. 2272, § 38).