Communicated on 13 October 2015
THIRD SECTION
Application no. 72608/14
Gabi Ainald MIHĂILESCU
against Romania
lodged on 2 October 2014
STATEMENT OF FACTS
The applicant, Mr Gabi Ainald Mihăilescu, is a Romanian national, who was born in 1971 and is currently detained in Vaslui Prison.
The circumstances of the case
The facts of the case, as submitted by the applicant, may be summarised as follows.
In 2012 the Bacău County Court convicted the applicant of human trafficking and sentenced him to ten years’ imprisonment. Since his incarceration the applicant has been placed successively in Tulcea, Bacău and Vaslui Prisons. In the course of transfers to other prison facilities he also spent short periods of time, of one to four days on each occasion, in Slobozia, Jilava and Iași Prisons.
1. The applicant’s conditions of detention in Tulcea, Bacău and Vaslui Prisons
The applicant complains about the alleged inhuman conditions of his detention in all three prisons. He mainly complains of overcrowding, poor conditions of hygiene and lack of sufficient and adequate food.
Moreover, he claims that he shares his cell with smokers despite the fact that he is a non-smoker.
2. The applicant’s conditions of transportation
The applicant also claims that the conditions of his transportation between the prison facilities were inhuman and degrading. The vans were severely overcrowded and let no air in. Moreover, some of the detainees smoke in the van.
The applicant also claims that no special arrangements were made to take account of his visual impairment while he was being transported in the prison vans.
3. Complaint concerning the lack of a personal care assistant
On 29 October 2013 a medical commission, organised under Law no. 448/2006 concerning the protection and the promotion of disabled persons, issued a certificate attesting that the applicant had been classified as a person with a permanent severe physical disability on account of his severe visual imparment. The medical panel which examined the applicant at that time granted him the right to benefit from a personal care assistant.
The applicant contends that in spite of this medical certificate he was not assigned a personal care assistant while in transit in Slobozia, Iași and Jilava Prisons. He submits that because he had no personal assistant he was dependent on the other inmates to assist him in his daily activities.
By a letter of 22 July 2014, the National Prison Administration informed the applicant that according to the applicable law he was not entitled to have a personal assistant while in transit in prison facilities.
COMPLAINTS
The applicant complains under Article 3 about the conditions of his detention in Tulcea, Bacău and Vaslui Prisons. He complains mainly of overcrowding, poor quality of food and non-segregation of smokers from non‑smokers.
He also claims that despite the fact that his medical condition required direct and constant assistance from another person in his daily activities, he did not benefit from a personal care assistant while in transit in Slobozia, Iași and Jilava Prisons.
Under the same article he complains about the conditions of his transport between the detention facilities in overcrowded vans, without sufficient air.
QUESTION TO THE PARTIES
Was there a violation of Article 3 of the Convention on account of the applicant’s material conditions of detention in Tulcea, Bacău, Vaslui and Jilava Prisons, of the conditions under which he was transported in the prison vans between detention facilities and of the lack of a personal care assistant while the applicant was in transit prisons in spite of his severe disability?
The Government are invited to submit information concerning the conditions of the applicant’s detention in all the prisons mentioned above, including his exposure to passive smoking, as well as the conditions of his transport between the detention facilities. The Government are also invited to submit details concerning the relevant measures taken by the prison authorities for ensuring the applicant with a personal care assistant while in transit in Slobozia, Iași and Jilava Prisons.
Full & Egal Universal Law Academy