Investigating across borders: the right to truth in a European context

Victims (direct and indirect) of gross human rights violations have implicit recognition in terms of a duty of effective investigation and other focused principles. In the context of migration and extraordinary rendition, this duty gives rise to a particular problem of investigation in a multi-national situation, where, arguably, an effective investigation requires elements of transnational cooperation. Recent decisions by the European Court of Human Rights, in particular Güzelyurtlu v Turkey and Cyprus, have developed legal principles relevant to this situation. This article probes how the Court’s jurisprudence reflects and accommodates the need for those across-border investigations in order to meet the criteria of an effective investigation and, with it, the right to the truth. It does so with additional reference to international legal norms that attach to enforced disappearance, as the right to the truth has found most fervent expression in this human rights context thereby serving to further illustrate the two foci of this contribution: transnational fact-finding in relation to migration and extraordinary renditions