THIRD SECTION
CASE OF GASHIMOV AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA
(Applications nos. 31408/14 and 10 others -
see appended list)
JUDGMENT
STRASBOURG
4 May 2017
This judgment is final but it may be subject to editorial revision.
In the case of Gashimov and Others v. Russia,
The European Court of Human Rights (Third Section), sitting as a Committee composed of:
Luis López Guerra, President,
Dmitry Dedov,
Branko Lubarda, judges,
and Karen Reid, Section Registrar,
Having deliberated in private on 30 March 2017,
Delivers the following judgment, which was adopted on that date:
PROCEDURE
1. The case originated in applications against Russia lodged with the Court under Article 34 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“the Convention”) on the various dates indicated in the appended table.
2. The applications were communicated to the Russian Government (“the Government”).
THE FACTS
3. The list of applicants and the relevant details of the applications are set out in the appended table.
4. The applicants complained of the inadequate conditions of their detention. Some applicants also raised other complaints under the provisions of the Convention.
THE LAW
I. JOINDER OF THE APPLICATIONS
5. Having regard to the similar subject matter of the applications, the Court finds it appropriate to examine them jointly in a single judgment.
II. ALLEGED VIOLATION OF ARTICLE 3 OF THE CONVENTION
6. The applicants complained principally of the inadequate conditions of their detention. They relied on Article 3 of the Convention, which reads as follows:
Article 3
“No one shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.”
7. The Court notes that the applicants were kept in detention in poor conditions. The details of the applicants’ detention are indicated in the appended table. The Court refers to the principles established in its case‑law regarding inadequate conditions of detention (see, for instance, Kudła v. Poland [GC], no. 30210/96, §§ 90‑94, ECHR 2000‑XI, and Ananyev and Others v. Russia, nos. 42525/07 and 60800/08, §§ 139‑165, 10 January 2012). It reiterates in particular that extreme lack of space in a prison cell or overcrowding weighs heavily as an aspect to be taken into account for the purpose of establishing whether the impugned detention conditions were “degrading” from the point of view of Article 3 and may disclose a violation, both alone or taken together with other shortcomings (see, amongst many authorities, Karalevičius v. Lithuania, no. 53254/99, §§ 36–40, 7 April 2005).
8. In the leading case of Sergey Babushkin v. Russia, no. 5993/08, 28 November 2013, the Court already found a violation in respect of issues similar to those in the present case.
9. Having examined all the material submitted to it, the Court has not found any fact or argument capable of persuading it to reach a different conclusion on the admissibility and merits of these complaints. Having regard to its case-law on the subject, the Court considers that in the instant case the applicants’ conditions of detention were inadequate.
10. These complaints are therefore admissible and disclose a breach of Article 3 of the Convention.
III. REMAINING COMPLAINTS
11. In applications nos. 31408/14, 32432/14, 12927/15, 18035/15, 23890/15, 25301/15, 59787/15 and 59951/15, the applicants submitted other complaints which also raised issues under the Convention, in accordance with the relevant well-established case-law of the Court (see appended table). These complaints are not manifestly ill-founded within the meaning of Article 35 § 3 (a) of the Convention, nor are they inadmissible on any other ground. Accordingly, they must be declared admissible. Having examined all the material before it, the Court concludes that they also disclose violations of the Convention in the light of its findings in Sergey Babushkin, cited above, §§ 38-45.
IV. APPLICATION OF ARTICLE 41 OF THE CONVENTION
12. Article 41 of the Convention provides:
“If the Court finds that there has been a violation of the Convention or the Protocols thereto, and if the internal law of the High Contracting Party concerned allows only partial reparation to be made, the Court shall, if necessary, afford just satisfaction to the injured party.”
13. Regard being had to the documents in its possession, to its case‑law and the long delay for some of the applicants in filing the application, the Court considers it reasonable to award the sums indicated in the appended table.
14. The Court considers it appropriate that the default interest rate should be based on the marginal lending rate of the European Central Bank, to which should be added three percentage points.
FOR THESE REASONS, THE COURT, UNANIMOUSLY,
1. Decides to join the applications;
2. Declares the applications admissible;
3. Holds that these applications disclose a breach of Article 3 of the Convention concerning the inadequate conditions of detention;
4. Holds that there has been a violation as regards the other complaints raised under well-established case-law of the Court (see appended table);
5. Holds
(a) that the respondent State is to pay the applicants, within three months, the amounts indicated in the appended table, to be converted into the currency of the respondent State at the rate applicable at the date of settlement;
(b) that from the expiry of the above-mentioned three months until settlement simple interest shall be payable on the above amounts at a rate equal to the marginal lending rate of the European Central Bank during the default period plus three percentage points.
Done in English, and notified in writing on 4 May 2017, pursuant to Rule 77 §§ 2 and 3 of the Rules of Court.
Karen ReidLuis López Guerra
RegistrarPresident
APPENDIX
List of applications raising complaints under Article 3 of the Convention
(inadequate conditions of detention)
No.
Application no.
Date of introduction
Applicant name
Date of birth
Representative name and location
Facility
Start and end date
Duration
Number of inmates per brigade
Sq. m. per inmate
Number of toilets per brigade
Specific grievances
Other complaints under well-established case-law
Amount awarded for pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage and costs and expenses
per applicant
(in euros)[1]
31408/14
04/04/2014
Ruslan Etibarovich Gashimov
14/07/1990
Sukhoyarskaya Tatyana Vasilyevna
Moscow
IK-25 Kirov Region
31/01/2013
pending
More than 4 year(s) and 2 month(s)
1.3 m²
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in respect of inadequate conditions of detention -
14,000
32432/14
05/08/2014
Vladimir Petrovich Grebenshchikov
05/03/1961
IK-2 Zabaikalskiy Region
11/07/2007
pending
More than 9 year(s) and 8 month(s) and 20 day(s)
190 inmate(s)
1.6-2.5 m²
not enough toilets,
7 sinks, no hot water, no ventilation, poor lighting, no partition between the toilet and the living space, tuberculosis and hepatitis-infected inmates in the cell
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in respect of inadequate conditions of detention -
13,000
12927/15
28/02/2015
Andrey Alekseyevich Katkov
08/11/1982
IK-2 Tomsk Region
13/01/2015
pending
More than 2 year(s) and 2 month(s) and 18 day(s)
2 m²
no ventilation in cell, constant cigarette smoke, poor lighting with no access to natural light, poor sanitary conditions, squat toilet not separated from the living space and one metre away from the dining table, stench, no privacy when using toilet, poor quality of food, no hot water, outdoor exercise not every day, no radio or newspapers
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in respect of inadequate conditions of detention -
8,800
17262/15
24/03/2015
Dmitriy Gennadyevich Kovyazin
23/07/1972
IK-11 NIzhny Novgorod Region
21/05/2013 to
10/03/2015
1 year(s) and 9 month(s) and 18 day(s)
135 inmate(s)
2 m²
6 toilet(s)
6 sinks for 135 inmates, overcrowding, sanitary, poor quality of food, poor quality of uniform and footgear
5,000
17957/15
02/04/2015
Aleksandr Nikolayevich Smirnov
22/08/1983
Vinogradov Aleksandr Vladimirovich
Kostroma
IK-1 Kostroma Region
13/12/2012 to
12/02/2015
2 year(s) and 2 month(s)
160 inmate(s)
3 toilet(s)
3 sinks for 160 inmates, no flushing system, bedbugs and rats
5,000
18035/15
28/03/2015
Aleksandr Yuryevich Chesnokov
16/03/1984
IK-2 Tyumen Region
14/05/2011 to
03/10/2014
3 year(s) and 4 month(s) and 20 day(s)
500 inmate(s)
2.1 m²
17 toilet(s)
6 sinks (2 of them for washing feet) for 110 inmates, mould on the ceiling and walls, insects and rodents, no ventilation, every working day obliged to spend 4 hours in a recreation room with no ventilation and 0.75 sq. m. per inmate, poor quality of food, lack of requisite medical assistance, low temperature in the dormitory in winter time, tuberculosis-infected inmates in the dormitory
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in respect of inadequate conditions of detention -
5,000
23523/15
05/04/2015
Sergey Vladimirovich Shcherbakov
02/08/1974
IK-11 Nizhniy Novgorod Region
07/07/2008
pending
More than 8 year(s) and 8 month(s) and 24 day(s)
135 inmate(s)
2 m²
6 toilet(s)
6 sinks for 135 inmates, poor quality of food, inadequate clothes and footgear
11,000
23890/15
07/05/2015
Yakub Rafailovich Kaliyev
09/02/1966
Gordeyeva Margarita Vladimirovna
Astrakhan
IK-2 Astrakhan
10/04/2009 to
19/12/2014
5 year(s) and 8 month(s) and 10 day(s)
165 inmate(s)
1.6 m²
4 toilet(s)
vermin, inadequate temperature in the dormitory, no individual sleeping place, no adequate clothing for seasons, poor quality of food, poor lighting, lack of drinking water and poor sanitary facilities, inadequate conditions for washing, lack of space for outdoor exercise, 3 sinks for 165 inmates
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in respect of inadequate conditions of detention -
5,000
25301/15
07/05/2015
Oleg Borisovich Lunev
02/02/1971
Gordeyeva Margarita Vladimirovna
Astrakhan
IK-2 Astrakhan
12/11/2007
pending
More than 9 year(s) and 4 month(s) and 19 day(s)
165 inmate(s)
1.9 m²
4 toilet(s)
4 sinks for 110-165 inmates, insects and rodents, inadequate temperature in the dormitory, no individual sleeping place, no adequate clothing for seasons, poor quality of food and drinking water, poor lighting, inadequate conditions for washing, lack of space for outdoor exercise, no privacy when using toilet
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in respect of inadequate conditions of detention -
10,800
59787/15
23/12/2013
Aleksey Mikhaylovich Zakharov
05/11/1973
IK-30 Perm Region
15/02/2012 to
01/12/2013
1 year(s) and 9 month(s) and 17 day(s)
130 inmate(s)
1.5 m²
8 toilet(s)
no ventilation, 6 sinks, no hot water, less than 5 minutes to wash himself weekly, poor quality of food
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in respect of inadequate conditions of detention -
5,000
59951/15
23/12/2013
Vitaliy Borisovich Tlunev
08/01/1966
IK-30 Perm Region
26/11/2011 to
13/11/2013
1 year(s) and
11 month(s) and 19 day(s)
130 inmate(s)
1.5 m²
8 toilet(s)
6 sinks, no ventilation, no hot water, less than 5 minutes to wash himself weekly, poor quality of food
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in respect of inadequate conditions of detention -
5,000
[1]. Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants.
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