FIRST SECTION
CASE OF ZAYCHENKO AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA
(Applications nos. 3341/19 and 29 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 Zaychenko 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 a complaint under Article 13 of the Convention.
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.
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 complained under Article 13 of the Convention of the lack of an effective remedy for their complaints about poor conditions of detention during transport. 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 in the light of its findings in Tomov and Others (cited above, §§ 143-56).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 has been a violation of Article 13 of the Convention, taken in conjunction with Article 3, in respect of the applicants who relied on that provision (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]
3341/19
14/12/2018
Viktor Aleksandrovich ZAYCHENKO
1990
van
16/05/2018 to
20/11/2018
0.2 m²
lack of fresh air, inadequate temperature, overcrowding
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport
1,000
6793/19
29/12/2018
Pavel Pavlovich YAKOVETS
1980
van
11/07/2018 to
11/07/2018
van
09/09/2018 to
09/09/2018
lack of fresh air, overcrowding
lack of fresh air, overcrowding
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport
1,000
8289/19
30/01/2019
Aleksandr Valentinovich BONDAREV
1986
train
18/12/2018 to
17/01/2019
no or restricted access to toilet
1,000
9068/19
28/01/2019
Kazbek Salikhovich KARABASHEV
1993
train, van
25/08/2018 to
18/09/2018
overcrowding, lack of fresh air, inadequate temperature, 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
11256/19
27/06/2019
Khusan Sarvarovich MURTAZOV
1987
Alla Vladimirovna Fabritskaya
Taganrog
train, van
12/01/2019 to
29/01/2019
1.5 m²
overcrowding, lack of fresh air, passive smoking, no or restricted access to potable water, no or restricted access to 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
20668/19
01/04/2019
Vladimir Nikolayevich BELYY
1983
Roman Nikolayevich Petrov
Cheboksary
train, transit cell, van
18/12/2018 to
17/01/2019
overcrowding, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, lack of or insufficient electric light, lack of fresh air, no or restricted access to running water, no or restricted access to toilet, lack of or insufficient natural light, 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
21139/19
05/04/2019
Maksim Vladimirovich GRUZDEV
1975
Aleksandr Vladimirovich Vinogradov
Kostroma
van, train
25/07/2019 to
09/08/2019
0.3-0.4 m²
overcrowding
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport
1,000
24227/19
10/04/2019
Andrey Aleksandrovich SILANTYEV
1992
train, transit cell, van
29/12/2018 to
26/01/2019
1-2 m²
no or restricted access to potable water, lack of or insufficient electric light, lack of or insufficient natural light, lack of fresh air, 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
24365/19
08/04/2019
Mikhail Yuryevich GLUKHAREV
1972
train, transit cell, van
24/02/2019 to
25/02/2019
0.2-0.5 m²
overcrowding, lack of fresh air, inadequate temperature, lack of or insufficient electric light, lack of or insufficient natural light, passive smoking, lack of privacy for toilet, lack or insufficient quantity of food, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air, insufficient number of sleeping places, 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
24788/19
16/04/2019
Eduard Grigoryevich TSATURYAN
1985
train, van, transit cell, (IZ-1 Ufa,
IZ-1 Ryazan,
IZ-5 Rostov-on-Don,
IZ-2 Pyatigorsk)
17/12/2018 to
17/01/2019
0.4-2.5 m²
no or restricted access to potable water, passive smoking, overcrowding, numerous occasions of transport, no or restricted access to running water, no or restricted access to toilet, lack of fresh air, lack of or insufficient electric light, inadequate temperature, poor quality of food, no or restricted access to warm water, 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
24838/19
16/04/2019
Aleksandr Vladimirovich POTUPA
1972
van, transit cell
21/12/2018 to
22/12/2018
train
22/12/2018 to
23/12/2018
train
27/12/2018 to
28/12/2018
0.2 m²
0.22 m²
overcrowding, lack of fresh air, no or restricted access to potable water, no or restricted access to toilet, passive smoking, lack of or insufficient electric light, handcuffing, insufficient number of sleeping places
overcrowding, insufficient number of sleeping places, no or restricted access to potable water, no or restricted access to toilet, passive smoking
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
25370/19
19/04/2019
Anton Petrovich YATSENKO
1983
train, transit cell, van
17/12/2018 to
17/01/2019
0.1-1 m²
insufficient number of sleeping places, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, no or restricted access to toilet, no or restricted access to potable water, lack of fresh air, lack of or insufficient natural light
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport
1,000
26208/19
26/04/2019
Firdavsi Yeriyevich MERGANOV
1977
train, van, transit cell
17/12/2018 to
21/12/2018
0.4 m²
overcrowding, inadequate temperature, lack of fresh air, 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
26647/19
07/05/2019
Sergey Borisovich SMIRENIN
1976
train, van
13/04/2019 to
13/04/2019
lack of fresh air, inadequate temperature, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, lack of privacy for toilet, overcrowding, no or restricted access to toilet, poor quality of potable water
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport
1,000
26878/19
23/04/2019
Aleksandr Yuryevich ZEMTSOV
1984
train, transit cell, van
19/12/2018 to
21/12/2018
0.3 m²
no or restricted access to toilet, 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
27763/19
21/04/2019
Andrey Ivanovich SHAMRAYEV
1976
Eduard Aleksandrovich BULUKHOV
1980
train, van, transit cell, (both applicants)
24/12/2018 to
04/02/2019
no or restricted access to toilet, overcrowding, bunk beds
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport
1,000
28229/19
13/05/2019
Yuriy Viktorovich KISELEV
1985
Aleksandr Vladimirovich Vinogradov
Kostroma
transit cell
02/12/2018 to
20/12/2018
0.8-1.8 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
29291/19
06/05/2019
Sergey Ivanovich KARIZHSKIY
1975
van, train
26/03/2019 to
16/04/2019
0.6 m²
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
30111/19
07/12/2019
Ibragim Sultanovich BEKMURZIYEV
1978
train, transit cell
28/06/2019 to
19/08/2019
0.3 m²
overcrowding, insufficient number of sleeping places, no or restricted access to toilet, passive smoking, no or restricted access to potable water, inadequate temperature, lack of fresh air, mouldy or dirty cell, bunk beds, lack of or insufficient electric light, lack of or insufficient natural light, no or restricted access to warm water, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, poor quality of food, lack or insufficient quantity of food
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport
1,000
30339/19
20/05/2019
Pavel Vladimirovich TUROBOV
1967
train, transit cell, van
07/11/2019 to
17/11/2019
overcrowding
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport
1,000
31315/19
29/05/2019
Andrey Vasilyevich FROLOV
1978
train, van, transit cell
17/12/2018 to
03/01/2019
0.3 m²
no or restricted access to toilet, no or restricted access to potable water, lack of privacy for toilet, overcrowding, mouldy or dirty cell, passive smoking, poor quality of food, lack of fresh air, insufficient number of sleeping places, inadequate temperature, 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
31517/19
30/05/2019
Anton Sergeyevich GOLOVKO
1986
van, train
24/12/2018 to
29/01/2019
overcrowding, no or restricted access to toilet
1,000
31897/19
27/05/2019
Sergey Igorevich DONETSKOV
1982
van, transit cell, train
17/12/2018 to
21/12/2018
0.3-0.4 m²
inadequate temperature, lack of fresh air, 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
31938/19
27/05/2019
Aleksandr Grigoryevich OBODETS
1981
train, transit cell, van
17/12/2018 to
21/12/2018
0.3-0.4 m²
overcrowding, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, lack of fresh air, inadequate temperature, insufficient number of sleeping places, lack or inadequate furniture, passive smoking
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport
1,000
32139/19
29/05/2019
Yuriy
Viktorovich KULIKOV
1983
train, transit cell, van
14/12/2018 to
10/01/2019
0.2-0.5 m²
lack of fresh air, inadequate temperature, no or restricted access to potable water, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, lack of or insufficient electric 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
32170/19
08/05/2019
Aleksandr Anatolyevich POLUMESTNYY
1979
train, transit cell, van
22/12/2018 to
04/02/2019
0.2-0.3 m²
overcrowding, lack or insufficient quantity of food, no or restricted access to potable water, no or restricted access to toilet, lack of privacy for toilet, lack or inadequate furniture, passive smoking, lack of fresh air, lack of or insufficient electric light, insufficient number of sleeping places, 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
32714/19
20/05/2019
Vyacheslav Yuryevich FEDOTOV
1985
train, van, transit cell
17/12/2018 to
10/01/2019
overcrowding, passive smoking, lack of fresh air, 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
33257/19
10/06/2019
Gennadiy
Petrovich
SIBILEV
1968
train, transit cell, van
29/12/2018 to
25/01/2019
overcrowding, passive smoking, poor quality of potable water, numerous occasions of transport
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of inadequate conditions of detention during transport
1,000
33332/19
11/06/2019
Aleksandr Nikolayevcih IVCHENKO
1964
train, transit cell, van
21/12/2018 to
12/02/2019
insufficient number of sleeping places, passive smoking, overcrowding, no or restricted access to toilet
1,000
33652/19
11/06/2019
Aleksandr Aleksandrovich ZAYTSEV
1970
train, transit cell, van
17/12/2018 to
24/01/2019
overcrowding, inadequate temperature, lack of fresh air, passive smoking, insufficient number of sleeping places, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, lack of or insufficient electric light, no or restricted access to potable water, 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
[1] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants.
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