FOURTH SECTION
Application no. 21318/12
Robert Tadeusz DANILCZUK
against Cyprus
lodged on 8 April 2012
The applicant, Mr Robert Tadeusz Danilczuk, is a Polish national who was born in 1965 and lives in Glasgow.
A. The circumstances of the case
The facts of the case, as submitted by the applicant, may be summarised as follows.
The applicant was detained in Nicosia Central Prisons, as it appears, for about a year: from February 2011 until late February or early March 2012.
The applicant states that during this period he was detained in an overcrowded cell of about 0.5 and 1.7 m per person. The cells were cold and there was no adequate light. There were no toilets in the cells and sometimes he had to wait 2-3 hours to use the toilet and when the cells were locked he had to urinate into a bottle and defecate into a waste bag.
B. Relevant international standards: report of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and the Response of the Government of Cyprus
On 6 December 2012 the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (“CPT”) released its report to the Cypriot Government on its visit to Cyprus from 12 to 19 May 2008. It also released, on the same day, the Government’s response to the report.
The relevant extracts of the report read as follows:
“B. Nicosia Central Prisons
1. Preliminary remarks
62. Since the CPT’s previous visit to Nicosia Central Prisons in 2004, the establishment’s official capacity of 340 has not changed, whereas the number of inmates has risen from 480 to 520. 80 inmates were on remand and 440 sentenced (296 to long sentences, 18 of which were life sentences); 27 inmates were women and 11 were juveniles under 21 years old. About 54% of the prisoners were foreign nationals.
63. In its report on the visit in 2004, the CPT outlined its concerns as regards the rampant overcrowding at Nicosia Central Prisons. Since then the situation has further deteriorated, and the Committee understands that the establishment had to cope with even greater overcrowding in 2007 (with 662 inmates reported on 30 July); the population reduction since 2007 was largely due to a general amnesty, rather than to a strategic approach. An occupancy rate of over 152%, as observed during the visit in 2008, represents severe overcrowding, posing challenges to the general infrastructure of the prison, including issues of order and security and classification of prisoners. Such overcrowding will necessarily put a strain on relations between staff and prisoners and among prisoners, on the provision of health-care services, on material conditions of detention, as well as on the regime of activities offered to prisoners, and their possibilities for rehabilitation.
64. At the time of the delegation’s visit, the prison administration was completing the construction, on the upper floor of Block 5, of 23 new cells, in which it was planned to accommodate up to 2 persons per cell. Further, the prison management informed the delegation that the authorities were considering constructing a new accommodation block with 300 cells.
The CPT was also informed of other new initiatives to tackle the problem of overcrowding: a new Law on Parole and a Law on electronic monitoring, both of which were expected to be tabled before Parliament in the course of 2008. The latter piece of legislation could potentially help to reduce the Prison’s occupancy levels, by permitting an increased resort to non-custodial sentences. However, as regards the Law on Parole, the Committee would invite the Cypriot authorities to consider broadening its scope to include categories of inmates other than those sentenced to life imprisonment.
65. As the CPT has stated in the past, it is unlikely that simply providing additional accommodation will, in itself, constitute an effective and lasting solution to the problem of overcrowding. The CPT trusts that the adoption of the above-mentioned laws will bring new momentum to the Cypriot authorities’ efforts to adopt a coherent strategy for the sustainable reduction of the prison population.
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2. Ill-treatment
...
71. Further, the vast majority of inmates had no access to the toilet during the night, when, as the delegation learned, call bells were switched off. As a result, inmates were frequently obliged to urinate and defecate in makeshift receptacles in their cells. The CPT considers that to oblige an inmate to discharge human waste, and more particularly defecate, in a bucket or other receptacle in a confined space used as a shared living area, is degrading, both for the inmate concerned and for all other persons occupying the cell.
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3. Conditions of detention
a. material conditions
72. High levels of overcrowding prevailed in nearly all of the detention blocks, with older Blocks (1 and 2) being the most severely affected. For example, Block 2B had an official capacity for 36 persons, yet accommodated 73 prisoners. In Blocks 1B, 2A and 2B many persons were obliged to sleep four to a room measuring 10m², or in bunk beds in the blocks’ TV-rooms. Further, several cells in Blocks 1B, 2A and 2B had no window at all, resulting in poor ventilation and reduced access to natural light. Sanitary facilities in those Blocks were also severely dilapidated; however, the delegation noted that work was in progress to construct new sanitary facilities for Blocks 1 and 2.
73. Block 3 (i.e. the women’s section) accommodated 28 persons, though it only had an official capacity for 18. Despite the overcrowding, the conditions were, on the whole, good. However, many complaints were received of inadequate provision for the specific hygiene needs of women, as regards access to washing facilities and sanitary supplies, such as sanitary towels and tampons.
Blocks 5 and 8 also offered essentially good material conditions, as described in the CPT’s previous report43, though the problem of overcrowding persisted. On a more positive note, exercise and recreation yards had been constructed for these blocks.
The CPT’s delegation also visited the 23 new cells built on the upper floor of Block 5, which were soon to be brought into service. The fabric of the construction was of a similarly high standard, and included an air cooling and heating system in the central corridor. However, it was planned to accommodate more than one person in each of the cells, which all measured less than 7m²; cells of such a size are not suitable to accommodate more than one person. It is also unfortunate that the new cells had no in-cell sanitary facilities and that the communal sanitary facilities for the floor appeared to be insufficient. Moreover, the cells had grille gates but no doors, which would not allow for any degree of privacy.
74. The CPT recommends that:
-immediate action be taken to rectify the deficiencies identified at paragraph 72 in the material conditions of detention in Blocks 1 and 2, with a view to ensuring that they fully comply with the legal requirements (see Section 58 of the Prisons Regulations) in terms of lighting (natural and artificial), ventilation, cell size and equipment, and sanitation facilities;
-steps be taken to ensure adequate provision for the specific hygiene needs of female prisoners;
-measures be taken to reduce as soon as possible the occupancy levels in Blocks 1, 2, 3, 5 and 8. As occupancy rates are reduced, it should be ensured that those cells measuring just under 7 m² are only used to accommodate one prisoner and that the living space in multi-occupancy cells is at least 4 m² per prisoner;
-steps be taken to ensure an adequate ratio of sanitary facilities to inmates in the new cells on the upper floor of Block 5.”
COMPLAINT
Without invoking a specific Article of the Convention, the applicant complains about the conditions of his detention in Nicosia Central Prisons.
QUESTIONS TO THE PARTIES
1. Is there a domestic remedy under Cypriot law whereby the applicant could have complained about the conditions of detention? If so, did the applicant exhaust all effective domestic remedies, as required by Article 35 § 1 of the Convention?
2. Were the conditions of the applicant’s detention in Nicosia Central Prisons compatible with Article 3 of the Convention?
3. The Government are requested to submit information and documents on the conditions of the applicant’s detention in Nicosia Central Prisons during the relevant period.
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