Interim Resolution CM/ResDH(2018)472
Execution of the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights
Nevmerzhitsky, Yakovenko, Logninenko, Isayev and Melnik groups against Ukraine
(Adopted by the Committee of Ministers on 6 December 2018 at the 1331st meeting of the Ministers’ Deputies)
The Committee of Ministers, under the terms of Article 46, paragraph 2, of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (hereinafter “the Convention”);
Having regard to the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights (“the Court”) in the Nevmerzhitsky, Yakovenko, Logvinenko, Isayev and Melnik groups of cases against Ukraine (see list in appendix) transmitted to the Committee for supervision of their execution under Article 46 of the Convention;
Recalling that the problems revealed by the present cases, notably the inhuman and/or degrading treatment suffered by the applicants because of overcrowding, poor material conditions of detention and insufficient medical care in detention and the lack of an effective remedy in respect thereof, for which the Court found violations of Articles 3 and 13 of the Convention, have been pending before the Committee since 2005;
Underlining that, given the structural nature of the problems arising from the judgments of these groups, and the many years that have elapsed since the issues first came to the attention of the Committee, it is of paramount importance that the authorities now take concrete and decisive steps to address all these deficiencies;
Noting with interest the adoption of the Passport for Reform, a strategy paper in which the authorities seem to have identified the main obstacles to the improvement of conditions of detention in Ukraine;
Recalling that in previous decisions the Committee has repeatedly called upon the authorities to take decisive action to establish, in law and in practice, preventive and compensatory remedies in line with the European Court’s case-law;
Noting that some steps have been taken to initiate reflection on the adoption of such remedies by the establishment of a working group but that no concrete progress in this respect has so far been reported;
STRESSED the seriousness of the implications based on the nature of the findings in the present judgments relating to the absolute prohibition of torture and ill-treatment in Article 3 of the Convention;
UNDERLINED the urgent need for the authorities to follow up on their Passport for Reform and continue to work on the adoption of a comprehensive long-term strategy capable of leading to the resolution of these problems of a structural nature, with clear and binding timelines for the adoption of the relevant measures and the provision of the necessary human and financial resources;
RECALLED that the lack of concrete steps to establish effective domestic remedies for allegations of ill-treatment on account of overcrowding, poor material conditions of detention and insufficient medical care in detention undermines the credibility of the authorities’ commitment to resolve these long-standing issues;
NOTED that, in view of the increasing number of applications brought before the European Court, this lack of progress also puts an additional undue burden on the Convention system;
NOTED that, in order for such remedies to be effective in practice, there should at the same time be an overall improvement of material conditions and medical care in detention;
CALLED UPON the authorities to act on their commitment to resolve the problems linked to conditions of detention and, therefore, to establish, as a matter of priority, effective domestic remedies for allegations of ill-treatment on account of overcrowding, poor material conditions and insufficient medical care in detention.
Appendix
List of cases
Application
Case
Judgment of
Final on
NEVMERZHITSKY GROUP
54825/00
NEVMERZHITSKY
05/04/2005
12/10/2005
63727/11
ANDREY YAKOVENKO
13/03/2014
13/06/2014
16984/04+
BELYAEV AND DIGTYAR
16/02/2012
16/05/2012
52652/07
GAVULA
16/05/2013
07/10/2013
3299/05
USTYANTSEV
12/01/2012
12/04/2012
38771/05
RODZEVILLO
14/01/2016
14/04/2016
7193/04
ZAKSHEVSKIY
17/03/2016
17/06/2016
24710/06
YAROVENKO
06/10/2016
06/10/2016
18041/08
TRUTEN
23/06/2016
23/09/2016
9450/06
SOSNOVSKIY
08/12/2016
08/12/2016
4772/06
KOMAROV
19/01/2017
19/01/2017
3001/06+
MALCHENKO AND OTHERS
06/04/2017
06/04/2017
9207/09+
BILOZOR AND OTHERS
20/07/2017
20/07/2017
24107/13
D.S.
09/11/2017
09/11/2017
24392/06
URZHANOV
14/12/2017
14/12/2017
44807/10+
STARENKIY AND RUDOY
11/01/2018
11/01/2018
68183/10+
YEREMENKO AND KOCHETOV
14/06/2018
14/06/2018
45811/16
MAYSTRENKO
28/06/2018
28/06/2018
YAKOVENKO GROUP
15825/06
YAKOVENKO
25/10/2007
25/01/2008
31720/02
TITARENKO
20/09/2012
20/12/2012
45947/06
KOBERNIK
25/07/2013
25/10/2013
LOGVINENKO GROUP
13448/07
LOGVINENKO
14/10/2010
14/01/2011
43374/02
PETUKHOV
21/10/2010
21/01/2011
4725/13
LUNEV
22/10/2014
22/01/2016
5212/13
SAVINOV
22/10/2014
22/01/2016
40512/13
SERGEY ANTONOV
22/10/2014
22/01/2016
37240/07
KIYASHKO
23/02/2017
23/02/2017
ISAYEV GROUP
28827/02
ISAYEV
28/05/2009
28/08/2009
56660/12
KORNEYKOVA AND KORNEYKOV
24/03/2016
24/06/2016
31928/15
KONOVALCHUK
13/10/2016
13/01/2017
MELNIK GROUP
72286/01
MELNIK
28/03/2006
28/06/2006
69250/11
ALEKSANDR VLADIMIROVICH SMIRNOV
13/03/2014
13/06/2014
32392/07
LADA
06/02/2018
06/02/2018
11773/08
TKACHEV
19/04/2018
19/04/2018
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