Communicated on 2 February 2015
FIRST SECTION
Application no. 78638/11
Vladislav Yuryevich SHLYKOV against Russia
lodged on 27 October 2011
STATEMENT OF FACTS
The applicant, Mr Vladislav Yuryevich Shlykov, is a Russian national, who was born in 1973 and who is now detained in Solikamsk, the Perm region.
The facts of the case, as submitted by the applicant, may be summarised as follows.
On 28 July 1997 the Khabarovsk Regional Court convicted the applicant of several counts of murder, threat of murder, armed robbery and theft and sentenced him to death penalty. On 30 October 1997 the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation upheld the conviction on appeal.
On 3 June 1999 the President of the Russian Federation replaced the death penalty by life imprisonment.
The applicant was transported to maximum security correctional colony for life prisoners no. FKU OIK-2/2 in Solikamsk (the so called “White Swan colony”), where he has been since detained.
According to the applicant, the regime to which the inmates of the White Swan colony are subjected is very strict.
Inmates are held in cells. They have a walk once or twice per week for about an hour and a half. They are handcuffed with their hands behind their backs every time their leave their cells, including during the walks. Handcuffs are used even during the winter months, causing the applicant acute suffering and often prompting him to renounce going for a walk.
Inmates are allowed to shower once a week for ten minutes. Their prison overalls are washed every three or four months and they are prohibited from washing their overalls themselves. They may only wash their underwear in cold water.
Artificial light is not switched off during the night.
Inmates are not allowed to close their eyes during the day, to stretch themselves or to take off their slippers.
Their hair is completely shaved off about every two months.
They have to stand up with their faces turned to the wall and their hands raised up every time a guard enters the cell.
The TV may not be switched on without the permission of the guards.
Inmates are allowed only one phone call per week.
COMPLAINT
The applicant complains under Article 3 of the Convention about the allegedly inhuman conditions of his detention in the White Swan colony in Solikamsk.
QUESTIONS TO THE PARTIES
1. The Government are requested to submit the text of laws and regulations governing the regime of maximum security correctional colonies for life prisoners.
2. Have the conditions of the applicant’s detention in maximum security correctional colony for life prisoners no. FKU OIK-2/2 in Solikamsk been compatible with Article 3 of the Convention? The Government are requested to comment on all aspects of the conditions of detention which the applicant complained of.
3. In particular, is the applicant’s handcuffing every time he leaves his cell, including during the walks, compatible with Article 3 of the Convention (compare Kashavelov v. Bulgaria, no. 891/05, §§ 39 and 40, 20 January 2011, and Kaverzin v. Ukraine, no. 23893/03, §§ 151-163, 15 May 2012).
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