THIRD SECTION
CASE OF RADZHABOV AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA
(Applications nos. 26091/09 and 8 others -
see appended list)
JUDGMENT
STRASBOURG
26 July 2018
This judgment is final but it may be subject to editorial revision.
In the case of Radzhabov and Others v. Russia,
The European Court of Human Rights (Third Section), sitting as a Committee composed of:
Alena Poláčková, President,
Dmitry Dedov,
Jolien Schukking, judges,
and Liv Tigerstedt, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,
Having deliberated in private on 5 July 2018,
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:
“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, Muršić v. Croatia [GC], no. 7334/13, §§ 96‑101, ECHR 2016). It reiterates in particular that a serious lack of space in a prison cell weighs heavily as a factor to be taken into account for the purpose of establishing whether the detention conditions described are “degrading” from the point of view of Article 3 and may disclose a violation, both alone or taken together with other shortcomings (see Muršić, cited above, §§ 122 ‑141, and Ananyev and Others v. Russia, nos. 42525/07 and 60800/08, §§ 149‑159, 10 January 2012).
8. In the leading case of Ananyev and Others v. Russia, nos. 42525/07 and 60800/08, 10 January 2012, the Court already found a violation in respect of issues similar to those in the present case. In that case the Court also stressed that in conditions-of-detention cases the respondent Government alone have access to information capable of corroborating or refuting allegations made by applicants. A failure on their part to submit convincing evidence on material conditions of detention may give rise to the drawing of inferences as to the well-foundedness of the applicant’s allegations. The Court further reiterates that certificates issued by the director of the impugned detention facility after the Government have been given notice of the complaint, lacked references to the original prison documentation and were apparently based on personal recollections rather than on any objective data are of little evidentiary value (see, among other authorities, Veliyev v. Russia, no. 24202/05, § 127, 24 June 2010, and Igor Ivanov v. Russia, no. 34000/02, § 34, 7 June 2007). The Court emphasises that, in every case, the Government have to account properly for the failure to submit the original records, in particular those concerning the number of inmates detained together with the applicant, as well as authentic evidence showing both the size of cells where applicant was detained (floor plans) and confirming correlation between the general prison population, the population in the cells where the applicant was detained and the size of those cells (cell records). It further stresses that documents bearing signs of corrections, such as figures in documents being erased or written over, as in case no. 46863/16, or any other alterations to the documents without any explanations as to the their origin, reason and timing, cannot be considered reliable (see Klyukin v. Russia, no. 54996/07, § 59, 17 October 2013, with further references).
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. OTHER ALLEGED VIOLATIONS UNDER WELL-ESTABLISHED CASE-LAW
11. In applications nos. 32592/16, 33628/17, 43320/17 and 61744/17 the applicants submitted other complaints which also raised issues under the Convention, given 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 Ananyev and Others, cited above, §§ 100-119, concerning the lack of domestic remedies to complain about poor conditions of detention; Dirdizov v. Russia, no. 41461/10, 27 November 2012, regarding unreasonably long detention on remand; and Zubkov and Others v. Russia, nos. 29431/05 and 2 others, §§ 146-149, 7 November 2017, dealing with the absence of speedy review of the detention matters.
IV. REMAINING COMPLAINTS
12. In application no. 43320/17 the applicant also raised other complaints under various Articles of the Convention.
13. The Court has examined the application and considers that, in the light of all the material in its possession and in so far as the matters complained of are within its competence, these complaints either do not meet the admissibility criteria set out in Articles 34 and 35 of the Convention or do not disclose any appearance of a violation of the rights and freedoms enshrined in the Convention or the Protocols thereto.
14. It follows that this part of the application must be rejected in accordance with Article 35 § 4 of the Convention.
V. APPLICATION OF ARTICLE 41 OF THE CONVENTION
15. 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.”
16. Regard being had to the documents in its possession and to its case‑law (see, in particular, Ananyev and Others v. Russia, nos. 42525/07 and 60800/08, § 172, 10 January 2012), the Court considers it reasonable to award the sums indicated in the appended table.
17. 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 complaints concerning the inadequate conditions of detention and the other complaints under well-established case-law of the Court, as set out in the appended table, admissible, and the remainder of the application no. 43320/17 inadmissible;
3. Holds that these complaints disclose a breach of Article 3 of the Convention concerning the inadequate conditions of detention;
4. Holds that there has been a violation of the Convention 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.
6. Dismisses the remainder of the applicants’ claims for just satisfaction.
Done in English, and notified in writing on 26 July 2018, pursuant to Rule 77 §§ 2 and 3 of the Rules of Court.
Liv TigerstedtAlena Poláčková
Acting Deputy 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
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]
26091/09
06/04/2009
Kazi Gadzhimagomedovich Radzhabov
22/04/1967
IZ-5/1 Makhachkala
20/08/2007 to
08/02/2009
1 year(s) and 5 month(s) and 20 day(s)
overcrowding, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air, held in pre-trial detention 1.5 years after court judgment was delivered
6,500
32592/16
29/05/2016
Denis Vladimirovich Petrov
15/04/1978
IZ-47/1
St Petersburg
05/06/2014 to
24/12/2015
1 year(s) and 6 month(s) and 20 day(s)
2 m²
Overcrowding, inadequate temperature, no or restricted access to shower, no or restricted access to warm water, mouldy or dirty cell, lack of privacy for toilet, lack of or insufficient natural light, lack of or insufficient electric light, infestation of cell with insects/rodents
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in respect of inadequate conditions of detention -
6,800
41917/16
11/07/2016
Aleksey Konstantinovich Solovyev
29/01/1977
IZ-1
Nizhniy Novgorod
20/04/2015 to
29/02/2016
10 month(s) and 10 day(s)
2 m²
overcrowding, inadequate temperature, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, mouldy or dirty cell
4,700
46863/16
30/11/2016
Denis Mikhaylovich Kalinin
16/05/1980
IZ-1 Krasnodar
12/03/2012 to
28/06/2016
4 year(s) and
3 month(s) and 17 day(s)
2 m²
overcrowding, lack of or insufficient natural light, poor quality of food, inadequate temperature, lack of requisite medical assistance
15,000
52808/16
20/08/2016
Anatoliy Anatolyevich Doronin
24/06/1972
IZ-47/4 St Petersburg
31/07/2015 to
24/02/2016
6 month(s) and 25 day(s)
4 inmate(s)
1.8 m²
lack of fresh air, poor quality of food, lack of privacy for toilet, lack or inadequate furniture, overcrowding
3,200
33628/17
14/04/2017
Aleksey Aleksandrovich Obukhov
24/06/1964
Belinskaya Marina Aleksandrovna
St Petersburg
IZ-47/-4
St Petersburg
27/10/2014
pending
More than
3 year(s) and
7 month(s) and 12 day(s)
2.2 m²
constant electric light, inadequate temperature, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, lack of toiletries, overcrowding
Art. 5 (4) - excessive length of judicial review of detention - detention order of 14/02/2017 reviewed on 04/04/2017;
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in respect of inadequate conditions of detention;
Art. 5 (3) - excessive length of pre-trial detention - detention following the annulment of the release order of 09/06/2015; start date on 05/08/2015 and still pending (the most recent extension of the detention on 12/02/2018); Kuybyshevskiy District Court of St Petersburg and St Petersburg City Court dealt with the detention matters; gravity of the crimes was cited as the main reason for the extensions and threats of witness tampering, as well as a risk of absconding; no consideration of alternative measures as the case progressed; standard reasoning employed from detention order to the next one; delays on the part of the authorities in the conduct of the proceedings which had unnecessarily extended the detention.
16,900
43320/17
11/05/2017
Aleksandr Anatolyevich Fedonin
30/09/1976
IZ-5 Chistopol
11/03/2015 to
07/06/2017
2 year(s) and
2 month(s) and 28 day(s)
2.5-4 m²
passive smoking, overcrowding, lack of fresh air, no or restricted access to warm water, lack of or insufficient electric light, poor quality of food, mouldy or dirty cell, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in respect of inadequate conditions of detention -
8,800
46044/17
21/06/2017
Sergey Sergeyevich Karpov
11/12/1984
Pavlov Anton Sergeyevich
Saint Petersburg
IZ-47/4
St Petersburg
16/03/2015 to
22/12/2016
1 year(s) and
9 month(s) and
7 day(s)
2.5 m²
overcrowding, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, lack of fresh air
7,500
61744/17
20/06/2017
Ilya Nikolayevich Shchegolev
28/06/1983
IZ-74/1 Chelyabinsk Region
11/11/2015 to
13/02/2017
1 year(s) and
3 month(s) and
3 day(s)
less than
3 m²
overcrowding, insufficient number of sleeping places, lack or inadequate furniture, lack of privacy for toilet, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, no or restricted access to warm water, no or restricted access to shower, lack of fresh air, lack of or insufficient natural light, constant electric light, lack of or insufficient electric light, mouldy or dirty cell, passive smoking, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, inadequate temperature
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in respect of inadequate conditions of detention -
6,000
[1] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants.
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