Bekos and Koutropoulos v. Greece, No. 15250/02, ECtHR (Fourth Section), 13 December 2005

Prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment. Violent behavior by police officers driven by ethnic or racial biases. Obligation to carry out effective investigations. Link between racist attitudes and acts of violence Prohibition of discrimination. Burden of proof.

Art. 3 ECHR 
Art. 14 ECHR 

1. The failure of the national authorities to carry out an effective investigation into the violence perpetrated by police officers does not shift the burden of proof to the respondent Government with regard to the possible racial overtones to the violent act (case in which the Strasbourg Court condemned Greece for the violation of Art. 3 ECHR, while considered that the racist motive for the incident has not been established beyond any reasonable doubt).
2. Where evidence comes to light of racist verbal abuse being uttered by law enforcement agents in connection with the alleged ill-treatment of detained persons from an ethnic or other minority, a thorough examination of all the facts should be undertaken in order to discover any possible racial motives. In the absence of an effective investigation on the racist implication of the incident, there is a violation of the prohibition of discrimination, enshrined in art. 14 ECHR, from the procedural point of view (case in which the applicants, persons of Roma ethnicity, complained to the authorities that they had been subject to ill-treatment and racial verbal abuse by police officers during their custody).