The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) condemned, Thursday, November 3, France for the rapes and sexual assaults suffered by a child placed in a foster family by the child welfare services ( ESA).
The facts date back to the 1970s and 1980s. France L., placed at the age of 5 in a family of members of Jehovah’s Witnesses by the ASE of Tarn-et-Garonne, suffered rape and sexual assault on a period of thirteen years, between 1976 and 1988, committed by the father of the foster family. He admitted some of the facts denounced.
In its decision, the Court considers that the French authorities “have not implemented the preventive measures for detecting the risks of ill-treatment provided for by the texts”. France is ordered to pay 55,000 euros to the applicant in compensation for the “moral damage”a particularly high sum in view of the case law of the ECHR.
This decision was welcomed as “a great relief” by France L. “It is the culmination of the fight of a lifetime”she reacted, satisfied to see recognized the “injustice” of which she has “been a victim”but saying “still haunted” not the “abuse and rape suffered”. “Although no pecuniary compensation can be commensurate with the damage suffered, this decision has a strong and important moral value”commented his lawyer, Fatou Babou.
“A manifest deficiency in the follow-up”
In its judgment, the ECHR reveals in particular that “only six visits were made” with the family over the entire period, and that there is no document attesting to follow-up with the schools attended by the child. “There was a manifest deficiency in the regular monitoring as provided for by the legal provisions then in force”notes the court.
The European judges also deplore that the officials of the ESA did not “implemented the necessary measures” to enforce the “religious neutrality clause” that the host family had to observe. This involved the child in its religious activities, even though the child’s family of origin was of the Muslim faith. Informed of this situation, the ASE took no action at the time.
Finally, they find wrong the French administrative courts, which, by rejecting the action for compensation brought by the child who has become an adult, have shown “of excessive formalism”. The administrative courts had considered in particular that the limitation period had passed before the plaintiff could even access the “parts of his placement file”.
The ECHR condemns France for violating Articles 3 (prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment), 9 (freedom of religion) and 13 (right to an effective remedy) of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights.