FIRST SECTION
CASE OF NAM AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA
(Applications nos. 33803/19 and 28 others –
see appended list)
JUDGMENT
STRASBOURG
26 October 2023
This judgment is final but it may be subject to editorial revision.
In the case of Nam and Others v. Russia,
The European Court of Human Rights (First Section), sitting as a Committee composed of:
Péter Paczolay, President,
Gilberto Felici,
Raffaele Sabato, judges,
and Viktoriya Maradudina, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,
Having deliberated in private on 5 October 2023,
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 dates indicated in the appended table.
2. The Russian Government were given notice of the applications.
THE FACTS
3. A 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 detention during their transport. Some applicants also raised complaints under other Convention provisions.
THE LAWJOINDER 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.JURISDICTION
6. The Court observes that the facts giving rise to the alleged violations of the Convention occurred prior to 16 September 2022, the date on which the Russian Federation ceased to be a party to the Convention. The Court therefore decides that it has jurisdiction to examine the present applications (see Fedotova and Others v. Russia [GC], nos. 40792/10 and 2 others, §§ 68‑73, 17 January 2023).ALLEGED VIOLATION OF ARTICLE 3 OF THE CONVENTION
7. The applicants complained principally of the inadequate conditions of detention during their transport. They relied on Article 3 of the Convention, which reads as follows:
“No one shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.”
8. The Court notes that the applicants were detained in poor conditions during transport. The details of the applicants’ detention are indicated in the appended table. The Court refers to the principles established in its case‑law regarding cramped and defective conditions during the transit of prisoners (see Tomov and Others v. Russia, nos. 18255/10 and 5 others, §§ 124-27, 9 April 2019). It reiterates in particular that a strong presumption of a violation arises when detainees are transported in conveyances offering less than 0.5 square metres of space per person, regardless of whether such cramped conditions result from an excessive number of detainees being transported together or from the restrictive design of compartments (ibid., § 125). As regards longer journeys, factors such as a failure to arrange an individual sleeping place for each detainee or to secure an adequate supply of drinking water and food or access to the toilet seriously aggravate the situation of prisoners during transfers and are indicative of a violation of Article 3 (ibid., § 127).
9. In the leading case of Tomov and Others (cited above), the Court already found a violation in respect of issues similar to those in the present case.
10. 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 during their transport were inadequate.
11. These complaints are therefore admissible and disclose a breach of Article 3 of the Convention.OTHER ALLEGED VIOLATIONS UNDER WELL-ESTABLISHED CASE-LAW
12. The applicants whose names are listed in the appended table also raised other complaints relating to the issues of the Court’s well-established case-law. 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 a violation of the Convention (see appended table for further details) in view of its findings in Svinarenko and Slyadnev v. Russia [GC], nos. 32541/08 and 43441/08, ECHR 2014 (extracts), concerning placement of applicants in a metal cage in courtrooms; Idalov v. Russia [GC], no. 5826/03, 22 May 2012, related to the defects in the review proceedings of the detention matters; and Gorlov and Others v. Russia, nos. 27057/06 and 2 others, 2 July 2019, as to the permanent video surveillance of detainees in pre-trial or post-conviction detention facilities.APPLICATION OF ARTICLE 41 OF THE CONVENTION
13. 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.”
14. Regard being had to the documents in its possession and to its case‑law (see, in particular, Pukhachev and Zaretskiy v. Russia, nos. 17494/16 and 29203/16, 16 November 2017), the Court considers it reasonable to award the sums indicated in the appended table.
FOR THESE REASONS, THE COURT, UNANIMOUSLY,Decides to join the applications;Holds that it has jurisdiction to deal with these applications as they relate to facts that took place before 16 September 2022;Declares the applications admissible;Holds that these applications disclose a breach of Article 3 of the Convention concerning the inadequate conditions of detention during transport;Holds that there have been other violations of the Convention under the Court’s well-established case-law (see the appended table);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 during the default period plus three percentage points.
Done in English, and notified in writing on 26 October 2023, pursuant to Rule 77 §§ 2 and 3 of the Rules of Court.
Viktoriya Maradudina Péter Paczolay
Acting Deputy Registrar President
APPENDIX
List of applications raising complaints under Article 3 of the Convention
(inadequate conditions of detention during transport)
No.
Application no.
Date of introduction
Applicant’s name
Year of birth
Representative’s name and location
Means of transport
Start and end date
Sq. m per inmate
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]
33803/19
13/06/2019
Eduard Vasilyevich NAM
1991
van, train, transit cell
24/12/2018 to
26/01/2019
0.2 m²
no or restricted access to toilet, no or restricted access to potable water, overcrowding, in view of insufficient number of sitting places in a van the applicant had to sit on someone else’s lap or have inmates sit on his lap, lack of fresh air, passive smoking, lack of privacy for toilet
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport
1,000
33889/19
04/06/2019
Andrey Gennadyevich VINOGRADOV
1970
train, transit cell, van
20/12/2018 to
24/12/2018
0.3 m²
overcrowding, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, lack of privacy for toilet, lack of fresh air, inadequate temperature, bunk beds, insufficient number of sleeping places, passive smoking
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport
1,000
34149/19
07/06/2019
Rafik Samvelovich GAMBARYAN
1992
train
(Nizhniy Novgorod - Saratov - Volgograd - Pyatigorsk)
13/01/2019 to
19/01/2019
insufficient number of sleeping places
1,000
34297/19
13/06/2019
Aleksey Vladimirovich LYSENKO
1978
train, transit cell, van
18/12/2018 to
17/01/2019
0.3-0.7 m²
no or restricted access to toilet, no or restricted access to potable water, passive smoking, lack of fresh air, overcrowding, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, numerous occasions of transport, mouldy or dirty cell, insufficient number of sleeping places, lack of privacy for toilet
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport
1,000
36494/19
13/04/2019
Aleksandr Viktorovich KOLESNIKOV
1977
train, transit cell, van
21/12/2018 to
25/01/2019
0.2 m²
no or restricted access to potable water, no or restricted access to toilet, overcrowding, passive smoking, lack of fresh air, lack of privacy for toilet, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, insufficient number of sleeping places
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport
1,000
36753/19
19/06/2019
Aleksandr Valentinovich DEMIN
1978
train
21/12/2018 to
24/12/2018
0.4 m²
overcrowding, insufficient number of sleeping places, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, lack or inadequate furniture, lack of privacy for toilet, lack of fresh air, passive smoking
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport
1,000
36768/19
28/06/2019
Vasiliy Vasilyevich LOPAREV
1969
van, train, transit cell
24/02/2019 to
25/02/2019
0.2-0.4 m²
overcrowding, inadequate temperature, lack of or insufficient electric light, lack of or insufficient natural light, lack of fresh air, passive smoking, no or restricted access to toilet, lack or inadequate furniture, poor quality of food, lack or insufficient quantity of food, lack of sleeping places in the transit cell, lack of privacy for toilet, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport
1,000
36772/19
25/06/2019
Artur Meruzhanovich MKHITARYAN
1981
train, transit cell, van
12/01/2019 to
06/02/2019
overcrowding, lack or inadequate furniture, lack of fresh air, passive smoking, no or restricted access to potable water, lack of privacy for toilet, lack of or insufficient electric light, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, poor quality of food, lack or insufficient quantity of food, insufficient number of sleeping places
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport
1,000
37670/19
04/07/2019
Aleksey Nikolayevich GRAFOV
2019
Vladimir Vladimirovich Koshev
Stavropol
transit cell
09/09/2016 to
14/05/2019
0.3 m²
lack of fresh air, no or restricted access to toilet
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport;
Art. 3 - use of metal cages and/or other security arrangements in courtrooms – placement in a metal cage in the courtroom of the Leninskiy District Court of Stavropol, between 02/11/2016 and 22/02/2019
8,500
38438/19
08/07/2019
Aleksey Pavlovich NENIN
1991
train, transit cell, van
22/03/2019 to
10/04/2019
0.1-1 m²
lack of ventilation, insufficient number of sleeping places, lack or insufficient quantity of food, no or restricted access to warm water, overcrowding, no or restricted access to toilet, lack of or insufficient electric light, constant electric light, passive smoking
1,000
38506/19
28/06/2019
Oleg Igorevich SEVOSTYANOV
1990
transit cell, van, train
22/03/2019 to
01/04/2019
0.2 m²
overcrowding
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport
1,000
44961/19
14/08/2019
Aleksandr Vladimirovich REMCHUKOV
1973
van, train, transit cell
05/04/2019 to
24/04/2019
overcrowding, lack of fresh air, no or restricted access to toilet
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport
1,000
45243/19
05/08/2019
Ilyas Magomedovich GASANOV
1968
train, transit cell, van
29/03/2019 to
08/05/2019
0.2 m²
bunk beds, overcrowding, insufficient number of sleeping places, lack of fresh air, lack of privacy for toilet, poor quality of food
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport
1,000
46041/19
31/07/2019
Denis Igorevich POMYLEV
1993
train, van
29/05/2019 to
31/05/2019
overcrowding, lack of fresh air, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, insufficient number of sleeping places, no or restricted access to potable water, lack of or insufficient electric light, lack of or insufficient natural light, no or restricted access to toilet
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport
1,000
46119/19
20/08/2019
Yevgeniy Anatolyevich NEDOPOVZ
1975
train, transit cell, van
29/03/2019 to
26/04/2019
0.2-1.5 m²
insufficient number of sleeping places, lack of or insufficient electric light, lack of fresh air, poor quality of food, no or restricted access to toilet, no or restricted access to shower, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport
1,000
46309/19
16/08/2019
Seymur Musayevich PAYYZOV
1985
train, van
03/06/2019 to
07/07/2019
0.3-0.4 m²
overcrowding, lack of fresh air, lack of safety equipment inside the van, lack or inadequate furniture, passive smoking, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, insufficient number of sleeping places, lack of or insufficient natural light, no or restricted access to toilet, no or restricted access to potable water
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport
1,000
47121/19
27/10/2019
Dmitriy Olegovich ZAPORASHCHUK
1978
Olga Viktorovna Golub
Suzemka
transit cell, van
08/11/2018 to
29/05/2019
overcrowding, lack of or insufficient electric light, lack of or insufficient natural light, lack of fresh air, no or restricted access to potable water, inadequate temperature, no or restricted access to toilet, lack or insufficient quantity of food, passive smoking, lack of privacy for toilet
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport;
Art. 5 (4) - excessive length of judicial review of detention –
1. Extension order of 08/11/2018 - appeal considered only on 29/05/2019,
2. Extension order of 29/03/2019 - appeal considered only on 29/04/2019
1,500
47925/19
16/08/2019
Ruslan Murzaliyevich SHANDIYEV
1977
van, train
21/03/2019 to
10/04/2019
0.1 m²
overcrowding, lack of sitting places in a van, insufficient number of sleeping places, lack of or insufficient electric light, lack of or insufficient natural light, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, lack or insufficient quantity of food, no or restricted access to toilet, lack of privacy for toilet, no or restricted access to potable water, passive smoking, lack of fresh air, no ventilation
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport;
Art. 8 (1) - permanent video surveillance of detainees in pre-trial or post-conviction detention facilities – the applicant was subjected to it during his detention in IK-37 and IK-9 Perm Region until 21/03/2019
1,000
48263/19
10/08/2019
Ramil Zakiryanovich NIZAMETDINOV
1984
van, transit cell
22/04/2019 to
20/05/2019
no or restricted access to warm water, overcrowding, lack of or insufficient electric light
1,000
48546/19
02/09/2019
Oleg Alekseyevich GONOCHENKO
1957
van, train
29/03/2019 to
22/05/2019
0.6 m²
overcrowding, insufficient number of sleeping places
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport
1,000
48803/19
22/08/2019
Temirkan Arturovich KAZHAROV
1986
train
05/04/2019 to
14/05/2019
lack of fresh air, insufficient number of sleeping places, inadequate temperature, lack of privacy for toilet, no or restricted access to toilet, overcrowding, passive smoking
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport
1,000
49287/19
09/09/2019
Asker Magomedovich MAGOMEDOV
1984
Roman Nikolayevich Petrov
Cheboksary
train, transit cell, van
26/03/2019 to
16/04/2019
0.3-2.5 m²
insufficient number of sleeping places, lack of fresh air, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air, inadequate temperature, poor quality of food
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport
1,000
49780/19
12/09/2019
Shamil Magomedovich TAYGIBOV
1987
Roman Nikolayevich Petrov
Cheboksary
van, train
22/03/2019 to
16/04/2019
0.2-0.4 m²
overcrowding, no or restricted access to toilet, no or restricted access to potable water, insufficient number of sleeping places, lack of or insufficient natural light, lack of or insufficient electric light, lack of fresh air, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, passive smoking
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport
1,000
50709/19
19/09/2019
Vyacheslav Viktorovich YEFIMENKO
1970
train, transit cell, van
16/04/2019 to
22/05/2019
insufficient number of sleeping places, lack of fresh air, lack of or insufficient natural light, lack of or insufficient electric light, poor quality of food
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport
1,000
51405/19
14/09/2019
Vyacheslav Vyacheslavovich SVIRIDOV
1975
Roman Nikolayevich Petrov
Cheboksary
train, van, transit cells in remand prisons
28/03/2019 to
25/04/2019
0.4-6 m²
overcrowding, no or restricted access to toilet, no or restricted access to potable water, lack of fresh air, lack or insufficient quantity of food, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport
1,000
53075/19
25/09/2019
Shamil Masayevich MAMAYEV
1956
Roman Nikolayevich Petrov
Cheboksary
train, van, transit cell
26/03/2019 to
16/04/2019
0.2-0.3-
2.1 m²
overcrowding, no or restricted access to toilet, lack of fresh air, insufficient number of sleeping places, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, lack of or insufficient electric light
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport
1,000
53316/19
07/10/2019
Sergey Nikolayevich KOVALEV
1969
van
26/07/2016 to
08/04/2019
0.42 m²
overcrowding, lack of fresh air, inadequate temperature, no or restricted access to potable water, lack of or insufficient natural light, lack of or insufficient electric light
1,000
14315/20
08/09/2020
Sergey Aleksandrovich ORESHENKO
1985
transit cell, van
30/07/2019 to
13/03/2020
2 m²
applicant transported on numerous occasions, lack of fresh air, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, lack of privacy for toilet, lack or insufficient quantity of food, no or restricted access to toilet, overcrowding
1,000
38810/20
14/03/2021
Rostislav Olegovich SHCHELCHKOV
1981
van
29/12/2020 to
29/12/2020
train
23/01/2021 to
24/01/2021
0.4 m²
overcrowding, no or restricted access to toilet, lack or insufficient quantity of food, poor quality of food, inadequate temperature
insufficient number of sleeping places, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, no or restricted access to toilet, lack of fresh air, lack of or insufficient electric light, lack or inadequate furniture
1,000
[1] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants.
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