the emergency care report of the Vienna General Hospital in this regard: “According to the EMS record: patient was arrested by the police after she had physically attacked them; patient sustained injuries of the ankles and wrists when she was being restrained with handcuffs and foot shackles. Third-party negligence: questionable / type of accident: recreational accident / beginning of outpatient treatment 1.1.2015/9:59 a.m.” With regard to the diagnosis, the woman indicated that, despite her condition, the way she was treated was characterised by antipathy, although she was still in shock, under a mental strain and in pain from the events of the past night. While it is true that a possible coccyx fracture was confirmed and a photo documentation of the injuries was made, she was given to understand that they wanted to conclude the examination and diagnosis quickly. When she insisted that the record be changed regarding the size of the haematoma, because it had not been measured and covered a wider surface than indicated, she was simply referred to the photo documentation. The facts gathered in this case by Commission 4 are exemplary for the problems that affected parties can experience with regard to the necessary immediate collection of evidence for signs of abuse directly after being in police custody. The NPM therefore confronted the Federal Ministry of Health with these facts and circumstances and emphasised, referring to international human rights standards, that hospitals and the doctors working there have a decisive role in the clarification of alleged police brutality. Involvement of the Federal Ministry of Health In this context, the impression must in any case be avoided that civil servants are never prosecuted under criminal law anyway and cannot be obligated to pay compensation for damages. Articles 12 and 13 of the UN Convention against Torture (CAT) and Article 3 of ECHR obligate all member states to investigate every believably alleged or suspected violation of the prohibition of torture and inhuman or degrading treatment by civil servants as quickly and as efficiently as possible by an independent, impartial authority. Provisions of international law It can be derived clearly from Article 3 of ECHR, Article 13 of CAT and the CPT standards that an independent investigation of abuse possibly suffered while in state custody must be such so as to enable a decision to be reached about whether violence or other methods that were used were justified or not under the prevailing circumstances. The state’s obligation to undertake a detailed investigation is not 52

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