The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has rendered a judgment affirming a violation of the right to life concerning Ms. TJ, a 45-year-old woman with a severe intellectual disability who died while residing in a state-operated care home in Hungary. The court highlighted the inadequate conditions and response from the institution, which led to this decision.
Ms. TJ was diagnosed with severe intellectual disability at birth, complicating her ability to communicate verbally and occasionally leading to aggressive behavior. Since 1983, she lived at the Tophaz Social Care Institution in Göd, Hungary. During her stay, her medical records indicated a series of injuries such as wounds on her head, face, and cuts on her eyelids. These injuries were allegedly caused by falls, being pushed, or self-infliction.
In 2017, officials from the Validity Foundation, a mental health advocacy group, reported finding Ms. TJ in a severely neglected state during a monitoring visit. She was discovered to be malnourished, heavily sedated, and non-responsive, restrained to her bed which resulted in muscle atrophy due to prolonged inactivity.
The court’s decision followed a criminal complaint lodged by the Validity Foundation, which was rooted in the substandard living conditions observed at the Tophaz facility. The ECHR found this situation to be a breach of Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which mandates the protection of everyone’s right to life, and Article 14, which prohibits discrimination.
A submission to the UN Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture discussed the deprivation of liberty conditions in such facilities, labeling them as places of detention under Article 4 of the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture, particularly from a disability perspective.
The involved parties have the option to appeal to the ECHR’s Grand Chamber for further proceedings regarding this case.
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