Communicated on 12 May 2015
FOURTH SECTION
Application no. 43639/12
Thi Nguyen KHANH against Cyprus
lodged on 2 July 2012
STATEMENT OF FACTS
The applicant, Ms Thi Nguyen Khanh, is a Vietnamese national, who was born in 1980 and lives in Limassol. She is represented by S.E. who is a Cypriot national.
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 the Limassol Police Station Detention Centre from 1 March 2012 until 25 July 2012 (4 months, 24 days) with a view to her deportation. The applicant states that during this period she was held in an overcrowded cell which lacked fresh air; there was no heating or air-conditioning in the cells and therefore the cells were cold in the winter and hot in the summer; there was no exercise yard; and there was no toilet paper or sanitary towels. The applicant estimated that her cell was 3 to 3.5 square metres. It held two bunks; and for most of the period there were four women in the cell, who had one blanket each and had to share the two beds.
On 10 April 2012 the applicant sent a letter to the Independent Authority for Investigation of Allegations and Complaints against the Police (“IAIACAP”) and complained about the conditions of her detention and the lawfulness of her arrest and detention. A letter dated 23 April 2012 was sent by the IAIACAP informing the applicant that the authority will proceed with a preliminary investigation of the complaint. It is not clear what has happened to these proceedings. The applicant in one of her letters to the Court states that she withdrew certain complaints against the police, after she was threatened by two senior police officers, but it is not clear whether she is referring to these.
In the meantime, S.E. sent a letter dated 4 April 2012 to the President of the Supreme Court of Cyprus informing him of the problems and violations of rights that the applicant had suffered during her detention. The President of the Supreme Court informed the applicant by a letter dated 5 April 2012 that this matter did not fall within his competence.
On 8 June 2012 a lawyer (who was hired by S.E.) sent a letter of complaint to the General Director of the Ministry of Interior about the conditions of detention and the detention itself but no response was received.
B. Relevant international standards: report of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture
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:
“5. Conditions of Detention
55. However, the delegation observed that some cells at Limassol Police Station had no windows, and, as a result, no access to natural light or ventilation. The CPT recommends that these deficiencies be remedied without delay.
56. Once again, the delegation heard consistent complaints about the provision of food, especially as regards quantity, but also as regards quality. Persons remanded in police custody were not provided with food in the evening for the first eight days at Larnaca Central Police Station. For the first 15 days of custody at Pafos and Limassol Police Stations, only cold food was provided, once a day. The CPT recommends that all persons held on police premises are provided with appropriate food at regular intervals (including at least one full meal every day).
57. The CPT has reiterated in the report on each visit to Cyprus that all persons detained longer than 24 hours must be offered the opportunity of one hour of outdoor exercise every day. However, in 2008, outdoor exercise was provided only at Police Prison (Block 10) and Larnaca and Paralimni Police Stations. At Aradippou and Limassol Police Stations, detained persons were offered, at best, access for several hours to a courtyard covered by corrugated plastic sheeting. Thus, outdoor exercise was still not provided at most police establishments, including those which held primarily or exclusively long-term immigration detainees, such as the former Famagusta detention facility in Larnaca and Lakatamia Police Stations.
58. Subject to remedying the shortcomings identified above, the existing police detention facilities visited in Cyprus were suitable for accommodating detained persons for short periods of time, i.e. for a few days. However, as the CPT has stressed in the past, police detention facilities will generally remain inappropriate for holding persons for prolonged periods. Indeed, none of the police establishments visited offered the material conditions or the opportunities for activities that persons detained for prolonged periods are entitled to expect. By way of example, the women detained at Lakatamia Police Station, in addition to not having access to outdoor exercise, had no activities of any kind, nor contact with the outside world. They also alleged to the delegation that the staff had forcibly removed their radio some time before the visit.
At the end-of-visit talks with the Cypriot authorities, the visiting delegation made an immediate observation pursuant to Article 8, paragraph 5, of the European Convention for the prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, requesting that the Cypriot authorities take immediate steps to improve the conditions of detention of persons held in police custody for prolonged periods. The delegation requested to be informed, within three months, of action taken in response to the immediate observation.
59. By letter of 8 September 2008, the Cypriot authorities informed the CPT that remand police custody rarely lasts longer than 16 days, and that, as regards immigration detention, pursuant to a recent decision of the Minister of Interior, he personally examines, on a case-by-case basis, the files of non-EU nationals detained for longer than six months. Where there is no prospect of deportation and the individual has not committed any criminal act, he or she is set free and issued with a 12-month temporary residence/employment permit, after which the case is re-examined. The Cypriot authorities also informed the CPT that a new establishment for the detention of up to 300 aliens was planned for 2012.
60. As the CPT has stated ever since its first visit to Cyprus, remand custody on police premises in itself poses a series of risks of ill-treatment. It is widely acknowledged that the period immediately following apprehension, and prior to the first appearance before a judge, is when the risk of abuse is greatest. Continued detention on police premises, even after the person concerned has been presented before a judge, also poses risks of intimidation and pressure. Consequently, instead of being kept for longer than four days in police stations, persons remanded in custody should be promptly transferred to prison; any further questioning by the police which may be necessary can be carried out in prison. “
COMPLAINT
Without invoking a specific Article of the Convention, the applicant complains principally about the conditions of her detention in Limassol Police Station Detention Centre.
QUESTIONs TO THE PARTIES
Were the conditions of the applicant’s detention in Limassol Police Station Detention Centre compatible with Article 3 of the Convention?
The Government is requested to submit information and documents on the conditions of the applicant’s detention in Limassol Police Station Detention Centre during the relevant period.[A1]
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