32
İLHAN v. TURKEY JUDGMENT
when the Court firstly accepts that “two contemporaneous medical reports
identified the head injury as being of a life-threatening character”, that “this
has left him with a long-term loss of function” and that “the seriousness of
his injury is therefore not in doubt” (see paragraph 77 of the judgment) and
secondly finds, “having regard to the severity of the ill-treatment”, that the
applicant's brother was the victim of “very serious and cruel suffering that
may be characterised as torture” (see paragraph 87 of the judgment).
4. In conclusion, we think that Article 2 of the Convention imposes an
obligation on the States to protect the right to life against acts capable of
endangering it, no matter who is responsible for those acts and irrespective
of whether they result from intention, recklessness or negligence. In this
case, Abdüllatif İlhan received blows to the head which were identified by
doctors at the time of the events as being of a “life-threatening character”,
without it having been shown that such use of force was absolutely
necessary within the meaning of paragraph 2 of Article 2 of the Convention.