Communicated on 2 April 2014
THIRD SECTION
Application no. 52096/13
Costin GHEORGHE
against Romania
lodged on 6 August 2013
STATEMENT OF FACTS
The applicant, Mr. Costin Gheorghe, is a Romanian national, who was born in 1980. He is currently serving a prison sentence in the Slobozia Penitentiary.
The circumstances of the case
The facts of the case, as submitted by the applicant, may be summarised as follows.
The applicant was arrested on 6 April 2011 and is currently imprisoned in the Slobozia Penitentiary.
The applicant describes his material conditions of detention as follows. He currently shares a 27 square meters cell containing 18 beds with 19 other detainees. He previously shared the same cell with 26 detainees. The sanitary installations occupy 2 square meters. The water is not drinkable and is not available between the afternoon and 6:30 a.m. The hot water is only available for 30 minutes two times per week.
The space for outdoor activities consists in a “cage” of 25 square meters, which is also overcrowded as detainees from three separate cells are allowed outside at the same time intervals.
The food is of very low quality and there are no adequate storage spaces for the food he receives from his family. The applicant is compelled to eat on the bed, as there are no dining rooms.
In summer temperatures in the cell are unbearably hot, and during the winter they are beneath zero degrees Celsius.
According to the applicant, the food is served in aluminium recipients, which is allegedly forbidden by the Ministry of Health.
COMPLAINT
The applicant complains under Article 3 of the Convention about the conditions of his detention in the Slobozia Penitentiary.
QUESTION TO THE PARTIES
Has the applicant been subjected, in breach of Article 3 of the Convention, to inhuman or degrading treatment in the Slobozia Penitentiary?
The Government are invited to provide information on the applicant’s detention conditions in the Slobozia Penitentiary, namely the size of the cell, the number and size of the windows, the number of beds and the number of persons being detained in the same cell with the applicant, the furniture and the sanitary installation available in the cell, the availability of hot and cold water and the space provided for outdoor activities. The Government are also invited to provide information regarding the quality of food provided to the applicant, the recipients in which the food is served, as well as information regarding the temperature control in the applicant’s cell.
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