204.
Thirdly, the Complainants submit that the delay in releasing the bodies of the
Victims, including the wife and son of the First Victim; being denied access to
the bodies of his loved ones, which caused the First Victim acute psychological
suffering; and being unable to provide them with appropriate burial in
accordance with his culture and traditions, amounted to inhuman and
degrading treatment and lack of respect for the dignity of the First Victim and
a violation of Article 5. The State made no submission in relation to the
submission on access to and release of the bodies. In Campbell and Cosans v UK,
the European Court stated that, “treatment’ itself will not be ‘degrading’ unless
the person concerned has undergone - either in the eyes of others or in his own
eyes - humiliation or debasement attaining a minimum level of severity”. The
Commission is of the view that not being able to access the bodies of your loved
ones would result in a feeling of helplessness, and would amount to feelings of
severe humiliation. The Commission thus finds that denial of access to the
bodies of loved ones has resulted in a violation of Article 5.
205.
In relation to the burial, there are three aspects to be considered, namely the
cost, timeliness and the location of the burial. In relation to the price imposed
for the release of the bodies (USD 450), the Complainants did not give any
further information as to the reason why this amount was charged, what was
covered by this price and why they consider it to be exorbitant. The
Commission is thus not able to find that this constitutes inhuman and
degrading treatment. On the location aspect, the Commission submits that
refugees, because of the status which they had been granted in their host
country, are not supposed to travel back to their country of origin, as the basis
for the granting of refugee status is that they are unable to return.
206.
Thus in relation to the assertion of the Complainants that the first Victim was
not allowed to take the bodies to Sudan for burial, the Commission finds that
the request from Sudan that the deceased be buried in Egypt is not
unreasonable, and does thus not amount to a violation of Article 5. However,
the Commission notes from the submissions of the Complainant that timely
burial is an important aspect of the Muslim religion and culture, and thus
agrees that this delay would have resulted in anguish for the First Victim, and
other similarly placed Victims, and is a violation of Article 5.
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