THIRD SECTION
CASE OF TSELOVALNIK AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA
(Application no. 17957/09 and 7 others –
see appended list)
JUDGMENT
STRASBOURG
6 July 2017
This judgment is final but it may be subject to editorial revision.
In the case of Tselovalnik and Others v. Russia,
The European Court of Human Rights (Third Section), sitting as a Committee composed of:
Luis López Guerra, President,
Dmitry Dedov,
Jolien Schukking, judges,
and Liv Tigerstedt, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,
Having deliberated in private on 15 June 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. THE GOVERNMENT’S REQUEST TO STRIKE OUT SOME OF THE APPLICATIONS UNDER ARTICLE 37 § 1 OF THE CONVENTION
6. The Government submitted unilateral declarations in some of the applications which did not offer a sufficient basis for finding that respect for human rights as defined in the Convention does not require the Court to continue its examination of these cases (Article 37 § 1 in fine). The Court rejects the Government’s request to strike the applications out and will accordingly pursue its examination of the merits of the cases (see Tahsin Acar v. Turkey (preliminary objections) [GC], no. 26307/95, § 75, ECHR 2003-VI).
III. ALLEGED VIOLATION OF ARTICLE 3 OF THE CONVENTION
7. 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.”
8. 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).
9. 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.
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 were inadequate.
11. These complaints are therefore admissible and disclose a breach of Article 3 of the Convention.
IV. OTHER ALLEGED VIOLATIONS UNDER WELL-ESTABLISHED CASE-LAW
12. In applications nos. 33355/15, 20554/16 and 43651/16, the applicants submitted complaints under the Article 13 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.
V. REMAINING COMPLAINTS
13. In application no. 17957/09, the applicant also raised a complaint under Article 6 of the Convention.
14. 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 matter complained of is within its competence, this complaint either does not meet the admissibility criteria set out in Articles 34 and 35 of the Convention or does 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.
VI. 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, Sergey Babushkin v. Russia, (just satisfaction), no. 5993/08, 16 October 2014 and Mozharov and Others v. Russia, no. 16401/12 and 9 others, 21 March 2017), 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. Rejects the Government’s request to strike the applications out of its list of cases under Article 37 of the Convention on the basis of the unilateral declarations which they submitted;
3. 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 applications no. 17957/09 inadmissible;
4. Holds that these complaints disclose a breach of Article 3 of the Convention concerning the inadequate conditions of detention;
5. Holds that there has been a violation as regards the other complaints raised under well-established case-law of the Court (see appended table);
6. 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 6 July 2017, pursuant to Rule 77 §§ 2 and 3 of the Rules of Court.
Liv TigerstedtLuis López Guerra
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
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]
17957/09
03/03/2009
Sergey Vitalyevich Tselovalnik
25/07/1977
Radnayeva Nadezhda Valeryevna
Moscow
IK-43 the Kemerovo Region (УН-1612/43)
02/04/2009 to
05/02/2010
10 month(s) and 4 day(s)
100 inmate(s)
1.9 m²
8 toilet(s)
overcrowding, no or restricted access to toilet
4,650
33355/15
26/09/2015
Konstantin Vasilyevich Bastrakov
26/09/1983
IK-46 Sverdlovsk Region
16/07/2011 to
05/11/2016
5 year(s) and
3 month(s) and 21 day(s)
IZ-66/1 Ekaterinburg
17/06/2015 to
16/07/2015
1 month(s)
148 inmate(s)
1.6 m²
5 toilet(s)
0.6 m²
5 sinks for 148 inmates, poor lighting, no ventilation, high humidity, tuberculosis-infected inmates in the cell, insects
Insufficient sleeping places.
Lack of light and ventilation.
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in respect of inadequate conditions of detention -
8,500
20554/16
07/04/2016
Konrad Bełdycki
12/05/1991
Zielinska-Turek Anna Aleksandra
Olsztyn
IK-13 Slavyanovka Kaliningrad Region
15/07/2013 to
18/12/2015
2 year(s) and
5 month(s) and 4 day(s)
94 inmate(s)
1.6 m²
5 toilet(s)
overcrowding, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, inadequate temperature, no or restricted access to warm water, sharing cells with inmates infected with contagious disease, poor quality of food, lack or insufficient quantity of food
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in respect of inadequate conditions of detention -
5,000
43651/16
15/07/2016
Ruslan Ravilyevich Zaripov
10/08/1979
IK-3 Sverdlovsk Region (УЩ-349/3)
01/01/2005 to
31/05/2010
5 year(s) and
5 month(s)
IK-46 Sverdlovsk Region (УЩ-349/46)
10/06/2010 to
15/06/2016
6 year(s) and
6 day(s)
200 inmate(s)
1.1 m²
3 toilet(s)
110 inmate(s)
1.6 m²
lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, insufficient number of sleeping places, no or restricted access to toilet, power outage
lack of or insufficient natural light, lack of fresh air, lack or inadequate furniture, no or restricted access to toilet
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in respect of inadequate conditions of detention -
5,000
44739/16
21/07/2016
Sergey Mikhaylovich Lysenko
21/03/1959
IK-11 B
or Nizhniy Novgorod Region
03/07/2012
pending
More than
4 year(s) and 10 month(s) and 21 day(s)
140 inmate(s)
2.2 m²
6 toilet(s)
no or restricted access to warm water, poor quality of food, lack of or restricted access to leisure or educational activities, overcrowding
7,800
44871/16
19/07/2016
Olga Anatolyevna Tikhomirova
27/09/1956
Vinogradov Aleksandr Vladimirovich
Kostroma
IK-3 Kostroma Region
29/11/2013 to
20/05/2016
2 year(s) and
5 month(s) and 22 day(s)
2 m²
2 toilet(s)
lack of fresh air, lack of privacy for toilet, no or restricted access to shower, infestation of cell with insects/rodents, poor quality of potable water, poor quality of food, lack of requisite medical assistance
5,000
60559/16
02/10/2016
Denis Vladimirovich Pronozin
31/08/1988
IK-11 Nizhniy Novgorod Region
16/04/2012
pending
More than
5 year(s) and
1 month(s) and 8 day(s)
140 inmate(s)
2 m²
no or restricted access to warm water, poor quality of food, overcrowding
7,000
60702/16
08/10/2016
Vadim Vladislavovich Gorbulya
05/03/1973
IK-56 Sverdlovsk Region
06/03/2014
13/02/2017
More than
2 year(s) and
11 month(s) and 8 day(s)
lack of or insufficient natural light, lack of fresh air, no or restricted access to potable water, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, no or restricted access to toilet, no or restricted access to shower, no or restricted access to running water, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air, no ventilation, uses bucket as a lavatory pan and then empties it daily, no sewage system in the colony, no centralised water-supply system
6,300
[1]. Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants.
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