Hmmmm... those darn legal professionals at the ECHR who wrote the articles and their vague and dressed up wording! What were they thinking?
For clarification: the European Convention on Human Rights, including each of its articles, was written by the foreign-office representatives (including legal staff) from each of the governments of the founding members of the Council of Europe in 1950. This is a treaty that was ratified by each of the founding member states of the Council of Europe and each new member state. It has been added to or amended since with Protocols also ratified by the member states. It was not written by the "legal professionals at the ECHR". The European Court of Human Rights is called for in an article of the Convention, an international treaty, and only came into being as a result of the actions of the states who founded and instituted the Council of Europe. The Court (ECHR) was created by the Council of Europe states and began functioning in 1959, in conjunction with the European Commissioner on Human Rights, but its role was enhanced in 1998 as the Commissioner's role was made non-judicial.
Here is a brief history of the European Convention on Human Rights and the ECHR:
"The Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, better known as the European Convention on Human Rights, was opened for signature in Rome on 4 November 1950 and came into force in 1953. It was the first instrument to give effect to certain of the rights stated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and make them binding.
Since its adoption in 1950 the Convention has been amended a number of times and supplemented with many rights in addition to those set forth in the original text."
Source:
https://www.echr.coe.int/Pages/home.aspx?p=basictexts&c=#n1359128122487_pointer
"The European Court of Human Rights is an international court set up in 1959.
It rules on individual or State applications alleging violations of the civil and political rights set out in the European Convention on Human Rights.
Since 1998 it has sat as a full-time court and individuals can apply to it directly.
In almost fifty years the Court has delivered more than 10,000 judgments. These are binding on the countries concerned and have led governments to
alter their legislation and administrative practice in a wide range of areas. The Court’s case-law makes the Convention a powerful living instrument for meeting new challenges and consolidating the rule of law and democracy in Europe."
Source:
https://www.echr.coe.int/Pages/home.aspx?p=court&c=#newComponent_1346149514608_pointer
See PDF The Court in Brief
The full text of Article 3 is highlighted below. Note that "Prohibition of torture" is only the short title describing the article; contrary to the false statements of the guilters, the article explicitly prohibits inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment as well as torture.
ARTICLE 3
Prohibition of torture
No one shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
The ECHR is itself set up in accordance with the Convention, Article 19:
ARTICLE 19
Establishment of the Court
To ensure the observance of the engagements undertaken by the High Contracting Parties in the Convention and the Protocols thereto, there shall be set up a
European Court of Human Rights, hereinafter referred to as “the Court”. It shall function on a permanent basis.
Source:
https://www.echr.coe.int/Pages/home.aspx?p=basictexts&c=#n1359128122487_pointer
See PDF European Convention on Human Rights
The ECHR in its role as a court interprets the provisions of the Convention in the cases brought before it, and through precedence, maintains consistency of judgment.
For comparison, the US Constitution was written by a convention of delegates from some of the original 13 states (the Rhode Island state legislature chose not to send delegates, and some other state delegates did not attend), and ratified by the states. The Constitution provides that there must be a Supreme Court but does not include every detail related to it; for example, the number of judges is specified only by law. After the the Constitution was adopted and the Congress and President were in office, the Supreme Court was set up according to a law (the Judiciary act of 1789) passed by the Congress and in accordance with the constitutional requirements.
