The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) [official website] on Tuesday rejected [judgment] a request [press release] made by Ireland to find that the “Hooded Men” previously detained by the UK had suffered torture.

Dismissing the request 6-1, the ECHR stated there was no justification in revising the 1978 decision [text] that found the treatment of the men was inhumane and degrading. The court found that the use of interrogation techniques such as sleep, food and drink deprivation violated Article 3 [text, PDF] of the European Convention on Human Rights, but did not constitute torture.

Ireland first launched [JURIST report] these new legal proceedings in December 2014 following the discovery of archived documentation from public records kept in London that examined the impact the treatment had on the detainees.

The ECHR’s power of revision has rarely [JURIST opt-ed] been the basis of a successful challenge to a prior court judgment.