THIRD SECTION
CASE OF SATYR AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA
(Applications nos. 70387/16 and 14 others –
see appended list)
JUDGMENT
STRASBOURG
12 January 2023
This judgment is final but it may be subject to editorial revision.
In the case of Satyr and Others v. Russia,
The European Court of Human Rights (Third Section), sitting as a Committee composed of:
Darian Pavli, President,
Ioannis Ktistakis,
Andreas Zünd, judges,
and Viktoriya Maradudina, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,
Having deliberated in private on 8 December 2022,
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 Russian Government (“the Government”) were given notice of the applications.
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
JOINDER OF THE APPLICATIONS5. Having regard to the similar subject matter of the applications, the Court finds it appropriate to examine them jointly in a single judgment.
ALLEGED VIOLATION OF ARTICLE 3 OF THE CONVENTION6. 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, 20 October 2016; Kudła v. Poland [GC], no. 30210/96, §§ 90‑94, ECHR 2000‑XI; and Ananyev and Others v. Russia, nos. 42525/07 and 60800/08, §§ 139‑65, 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.
OTHER ALLEGED VIOLATIONS UNDER WELL-ESTABLISHED CASE-LAW11. The applicant in application no. 28183/18 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 well-established case-law (see Gorlov and Others v. Russia, nos. 27057/06 and 2 others, 2 July 2019, concerning permanent video surveillance of detainees).
REMAINING COMPLAINTS12. In applications no. 9402/20, 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.
It follows that this part of the application must be rejected in accordance with Article 35 § 4 of the Convention.
14. Some applicants also submitted a complaint under Article 13 of the Convention related to the lack of remedies to complain about poor conditions of detention. The Court does not consider it necessary to examine the complaint separately.
APPLICATION OF ARTICLE 41 OF THE CONVENTION15. 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, Sergey Babushkin v. Russia, (just satisfaction), no. 5993/08, 16 October 2014, and Mozharov and Others v. Russia, nos. 16401/12 and 9 others, 21 March 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;Declares the complaints concerning the inadequate conditions of detention after conviction and the other complaints under well-established case-law of the Court, as set out in the appended table, admissible, finds that it is not necessary to examine separately the applicants’ complaints under Article 13 of the Convention and dismisses the remainder of application no. 9402/20 as inadmissible;Holds that these complaints disclose a breach of Article 3 of the Convention concerning the inadequate conditions of detention after conviction;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 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 12 January 2023, pursuant to Rule 77 §§ 2 and 3 of the Rules of Court.
Viktoriya Maradudina Darian Pavli
Acting Deputy Registrar President
APPENDIX
List of applications raising complaints under Article 3 of the Convention
(inadequate conditions of detention after conviction)
No.
Application no.
Date of introduction
Applicant’s name
Year of birth
Representative’s name and location
Facility
Start and end date
Duration
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]
70387/16
10/11/2016
Aleksey Gennadyevich SATYR
1981
Zlobin Sergey Vladimirovich
Moscow
IK-5 Mordovia Republic
11/05/2016
pending
More than 6 year(s) and
5 month(s) and 24 day(s)
overcrowding, lack of fresh air, lack of privacy for toilet, lack of toiletries, insufficient number of sleeping places
12,500
69770/17
08/09/2017
Roman Valeryevich STARODUBTSEV
1978
Vinogradov Aleksandr Vladimirovich
Kostroma
IK-29 Arkhangelsk Region
03/03/2016
pending
More than 6 year(s) and
8 month(s) and 1 day(s)
130 inmate(s)
2 m²
6 toilet(s)
infestation of cell with insects/rodents, lack of fresh air, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, lack of or insufficient electric light, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air, lack of privacy for toilet, lack or insufficient quantity of food, no or restricted access to warm water, no or restricted access to shower, overcrowding, sharing cells with inmates infected with contagious disease, poor quality of food
12,500
1140/18
11/12/2017
Andrey Sergeyevich CHISTYAKOV
1973
Vinogradov Aleksandr Vladimirovich
Kostroma
IK-1 Kostroma Region
01/04/2008
pending
More than 14 year(s) and 7 month(s) and 3 day(s)
2 m²
constant electric light, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, lack of fresh air, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, lack of or insufficient natural light, lack of or insufficient electric light, lack of requisite medical assistance, mouldy or dirty cell, poor quality of food
12,500
6644/18
10/01/2018
Yevgeniy Sergeyevich PELEVIN
1989
IK-11 Nizhniy Novgorod Region
05/12/2016 to
26/01/2020
3 year(s) and 1 month(s) and 22 day(s)
2 m²
overcrowding, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, poor quality of food, lack or insufficient quantity of food, no warm clothes, lack of fresh air
11,300
6960/18
31/01/2018
Ruslan Veliyevich VELIYEV
1992
IK-5 Krasnoyarsk Region
18/11/2016
pending
More than 5 year(s) and
11 month(s) and 17 day(s)
90-120 inmate(s)
3 m²
4 toilet(s)
lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, lack of privacy for toilet, no or restricted access to shower, poor quality of food, overcrowding, no or restricted access to toilet (the toilets are closed from 6 to 10 a.m.)
12,500
8775/18
24/01/2018
Ivan Sergeyevich AKULOV
1973
IK-5 Krasnoyarsk Region
28/01/2010
pending
More than 12 year(s) and 9 month(s) and 7 day(s)
105 inmate(s)
2 m²
4 toilet(s)
inadequate temperature, lack of fresh air, lack of or insufficient electric light, lack of or insufficient natural light, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, lack of privacy for toilet, lack of toiletries, no or restricted access to shower, no or restricted access to toilet, passive smoking
12,500
28183/18
16/05/2018
Petr Nikolayevich CHERNYSHEV
1986
IK-5 Krasnoyarsk Region
16/01/2016
pending
More than 6 year(s) and
9 month(s) and 19 day(s)
85 inmate(s)
2 m²
3 toilet(s)
lack of privacy for toilet, poor quality of food
Art. 8 (1) - permanent video surveillance of detainees in pre-trial or post-conviction detention facilities - 16/01/2016- pending, including the period of his detention in SIZO on 28/04/2018-01/05/2018
IK-5 Krasnoyarsk Region
Opposite-sex operators
12,500
29944/18
11/06/2018
Vitaliy Aleksandrovich MOROZOV
1977
IK-2 Zabaykalskiy Region
28/04/2015
pending
More than 7 year(s) and
6 month(s) and 7 day(s)
2 m²
lack of fresh air, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air, lack of or restricted access to leisure or educational activities, no or restricted access to shower, no or restricted access to toilet, no or restricted access to warm water, overcrowding
12,500
30664/18
10/09/2018
Ruslan Stanislavovich LUKASHENKO
1983
IK-2 Zabaykalskiy Region
29/10/2017
pending
More than 5 year(s) and
6 day(s)
120 inmate(s)
2 m²
lack of or insufficient natural light, inadequate temperature, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, mouldy or dirty cell
12,500
33151/18
26/06/2018
Dmitriy Valentinovich PEREPECHIN
1981
IK-2 Zabaykalskiy Region
01/02/2017
pending
More than 5 year(s) and
9 month(s) and 3 day(s)
140 inmate(s)
2 m²
overcrowding, no or restricted access to warm water, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, lack of fresh air, no or restricted access to toilet, mouldy or dirty cell, inadequate temperature
12,500
47102/18
14/01/2019
Yevgeniy Viktorovich PERMINOV
1979
IK-2 Zabaykalskiy Region
01/06/2018
pending
More than 4 year(s) and
5 month(s) and 3 day(s)
2.5 m²
overcrowding, no or restricted access to warm water
12,500
645/19
11/02/2019
Sergey Ivanovich SHISHLOV
1971
IK-2 Zabaykalskiy Region
20/01/2018
pending
More than 4 year(s) and
9 month(s) and 15 day(s)
2 m²
lack of privacy for toilet, lack of fresh air, no or restricted access to shower, no or restricted access to toilet, overcrowding, mouldy or dirty cell
12,500
2969/19
20/02/2019
Aleksandr Anatolyevich VASILYEV
1978
IK-2 Zabaykalskiy Region
11/03/2010
pending
More than 12 year(s) and 7 month(s) and 24 day(s)
130 inmate(s)
2 m²
inadequate temperature, overcrowding, lack of or insufficient electric light, poor quality of food, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities
12,500
4832/19
01/04/2019
Maksim Viktorovich ADUSHKIN
1988
IK-2 Zabaykalskiy Region
01/06/2015
pending
More than 7 year(s) and
5 month(s) and 3 day(s)
2.5 m²
lack of fresh air, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, lack of privacy for toilet, no or restricted access to shower, overcrowding, poor quality of food, poor quality of potable water
12,500
9402/20
31/01/2020
Umar Bagaudinovich KHADZIYEV
1984
Shukhardin Valeriy Vladimirovich
Moscow
IK-14 Novosibirsk Region
01/01/2016
pending
More than 6 year(s) and
10 month(s) and 3 day(s)
2 m²
lack of fresh air, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, overcrowding, inadequate temperature, mouldy or dirty cell, poor quality of food
12,500
[1] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants.