THIRD SECTION
DECISION
Application no. 11041/17
Dmitriy Andreyevich FURDUY against Russia
and 3 other applications
(see appended table)
The European Court of Human Rights (Third Section), sitting on 12 April 2018 as a Committee composed of:
Alena Poláčková, President,
Dmitry Dedov,
Jolien Schukking, judges,
and Liv Tigerstedt, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,
Having regard to the above applications lodged on the various dates indicated in the appended table,
Having regard to the observations submitted by the respondent Government and the observations in reply submitted by the applicants in applications nos. 11041/17 and 35656/17,
Having deliberated, decides as follows:
FACTS AND PROCEDURE
The list of applicants and the relevant details of the applications are set out in the appended table.
The applicants’ complaints under Article 3 of the Convention concerning the inadequate conditions of detention were communicated to the Russian Government (“the Government”). In applications nos. 11041/17 and 35656/17, the applicants also raised complaints under Article 13 of the Convention.
THE LAW
A. Joinder of the applications
Having regard to the similar subject matter of the applications, the Court finds it appropriate to examine them jointly in a single decision.
B. Complaints under Article 3 of the Convention (inadequate conditions of detention)
The Court reiterates that it adopts conclusions after evaluating all the evidence, including such inferences as may flow from the facts and the parties’ submissions. According to its established case-law, proof may follow from the coexistence of sufficiently strong, clear and concordant inferences or of similar unrebutted presumptions of fact (see, for example, Ananyev and Others v. Russia, nos. 42525/07 and 60800/08, § 121, 10 January 2012). In cases regarding conditions of detention the burden of proof may, under certain circumstances, be shifted to the authorities (see Salman v. Turkey [GC], no. 21986/93, § 100, ECHR 2000-VII; see also Mathew v. the Netherlands, no. 24919/03, § 156, ECHR 2005 IX). Nevertheless, an applicant must provide an elaborate and consistent account of the conditions of his or her detention, mentioning the specific elements which would enable the Court to determine that the complaint is not manifestly ill-founded or inadmissible on any other grounds.
In the present cases, the Government contended that the applicants had been afforded adequate personal space and had individual sleeping places. Moreover, they had been allowed daily outdoor exercise and had had proper access to hygienic facilities. The Government relied on the information provided by the remand prisons governors and excerpts from the remand prisons’ population registers accounting for each day of the applicants’ detention.
The Court is satisfied that the excerpts are original documents which were prepared during the periods under the examination and which showed the actual number of inmates present in the cells on relevant dates. The Court also notes that the excerpts from the registers demonstrate that at the relevant time the remand prisons were not overcrowded.
Having assessed the evidence presented by the parties in its entirety, the Court gives credence to the primary documents produced by the Government and rejects the applicants’ allegations as unsubstantiated.
Taking into account the cumulative effect of the conditions of the applicants’ detention in the remand prisons, the Court does not consider that the conditions reached the threshold of severity required to characterise the treatment as inhuman or degrading within the meaning of Article 3 of the Convention.
In view of the above, the Court finds that the complaints about the conditions of detention as described in these applications (see appended table) are manifestly ill-founded and must be rejected in accordance with Article 35 §§ 3 and 4 of the Convention.
C. Remaining complaints
In applications nos. 11041/17 and 35656/17 the applicants also raised complaints under Article 13 of the Convention.
The Court reiterates that Article 13 of the Convention only applies where an individual has an “arguable claim” to be the victim of a violation of a Convention right. In view of its findings above with regard to the complaint about the conditions of detention, the Court considers that the applicants have no “arguable claim” and that the complaint under Article 13 should also be declared manifestly ill-founded.
It follows that this part of the applications must be rejected in accordance with Article 35 §§ 3 and 4 of the Convention.
For these reasons, the Court, unanimously,
Decides to join the applications;
Declares the applications inadmissible.
Done in English and notified in writing on 3 May 2018.
Liv TigerstedtAlena Poláčková
Acting Deputy RegistrarPresident
APPENDIX
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
11041/17
24/01/2017
Dmitriy Andreyevich Furduy
13/05/1993
Stepanov Aleksey Sergeyevich
Moscow
SIZO-1 Ivanovo
18/12/2015 to
12/10/2016
9 month(s) and 25 day(s)
4 m²
Infestation of cell with insects/rodents, poor quality of food.
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in respect of inadequate conditions of detention.
20502/17
27/02/2017
Yuriy Vitalyevich Shumikhin
12/11/1971
IVS Ekaterinburg
27/08/2016 to
07/09/2016
12 day(s)
4 m²
Lack of fresh air, lack of or insufficient natural light, constant electric light.
35656/17
04/05/2017
Ivan Aleksandrovich Fedoryak
27/09/1989
Yastrebova Natalya Viktorovna
Rostov-na-Donu
IZ-5 Rostov-on-Don
29/10/2016
pending
More than 1 year(s) and 4 month(s) and 15 day(s)
4 m²
Lack of fresh air.
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in respect of inadequate conditions of detention.
36275/17
04/05/2017
Pavel Nikolayevich Brovar
30/09/1989
IZ-2 Taganrog
15/10/2016 to
04/12/2016
1 month(s) and 20 day(s)
4 m²
Constant electric light, lack of or insufficient electric light, lack of or insufficient natural light, lack of fresh air, infestation of cell with insects/rodents.
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