In the case of El-Asmar v. Denmark the Court held that there had been a violation of the prohibition of inhuman and degrading treatment as regards the allegation of excessive use of force, and a further violation of the prohibition of inhuman and degrading treatment concerning the lack of an effective investigation.

The case concerned the applicant’s being pepper sprayed by two guards while held in an observational cell in prison. The Court found that the investigation had not carefully addressed whether the legal procedural safeguards for the use of pepper spray had been complied with and considered that the Danish authorities had failed to carry out an effective investigation the applicant’s allegations of ill-treatment.

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