SELMOUNI v. FRANCE JUDGMENT 32 104. The Court notes, lastly, that the above events were not confined to any one period of police custody during which – without this in any way justifying them – heightened tension and emotions might have led to such excesses. It has been clearly established that Mr Selmouni endured repeated and sustained assaults over a number of days of questioning (see paragraphs 11-14 above). 105. Under these circumstances, the Court is satisfied that the physical and mental violence, considered as a whole, committed against the applicant’s person caused “severe” pain and suffering and was particularly serious and cruel. Such conduct must be regarded as acts of torture for the purposes of Article 3 of the Convention. 3. Conclusion 106. There has therefore been a violation of Article 3. II. ALLEGED VIOLATION OF ARTICLE 6 § 1 OF THE CONVENTION 107. The applicant alleged that the proceedings in respect of his complaint against the police officers were not conducted within a reasonable time as required by Article 6 § 1 of the Convention, the relevant part of which is worded: “1. In the determination of his civil rights and obligations …, everyone is entitled to a … hearing within a reasonable time by [a] … tribunal …” A. Period to be taken into consideration 108. The applicant submitted that the period to be taken into consideration had begun on 29 November 1991, the date on which he was brought before the investigating judge following his period in police custody, or, at the very latest, on 11 December 1991, the date of the Bobigny investigating judge’s order transmitting the expert medical report to the public prosecutor’s office. The applicant submitted that since the investigating judge had taken the initiative of appointing an expert, he could legitimately assume that the case would be dealt with by the judicial authorities. Such an obligation was expressly laid down, moreover, by Article 12 of the United Nations Convention against Torture, under which the relevant authorities were required to conduct a prompt investigation wherever there was reasonable ground to believe that an act of torture had been committed. The applicant contended further that his complaint of 1 December 1992 had been explicit and unequivocal. He therefore submitted that the date of registration of his complaint and application to join the proceedings as a civil party could not be considered to be the date on which the proceedings had commenced.