THIRD SECTION
Application no. 18616/13
Gheorghe Costică TODIREASA
against Romania
lodged on 18 February 2013
STATEMENT OF FACTS
1. The applicant, Mr Gheorghe Costică Todireasa, is a Romanian national, who was born in 1959 and is currently detained in Iaşi Prison. He is represented before the Court by his sister, Ms M. Blaga.
2. The facts of the case, as submitted by the applicant, may be summarised as follows.
3. From 10 August 2010 the applicant was transferred from prison to prison while serving his 19-year prison sentence for fraud and tax evasion. He was hence detained in the prisons of Bacău, Iaşi, Galaţi, Brăila, and Vaslui, and, since 26 March 2013, he is again held in Iaşi Prison.
4. According to the applicant, the detention conditions in these prisons amounted to physical and psychological torture. The conditions described in detail by the applicant, common to all these prisons, are listed below:
(a) overcrowding (all prisons): in Bacău Prison he was held in a cell of 12 sq. m with 15 detainees (0.8 sq. m per person), in Iaşi Prison in a cell of 24 sq. m with 27 detainees (0.8 sq. m per person), in Galaţi prison in a cell of 15.2 sq. m with 13 detainees (1.2 sq. m per person), in Brăila Prison in a cell of 20 sq. m with 15 detainees (1.33 sq. m per person);
(b) complete lack of heating in the winter, plus lack of adequate insulation of the windows (all prisons): in the prisons of Iaşi and Galaţi there were no glass panes in the toilet’s window. In addition, in the Galaţi prison the toilet had no door. The applicant alleged that he acquired rheumatic fever and skin lesions on his hands owing to the cold he had endured;
(c) defective sanitary installations/no proper bathrooms (all prisons): the cells were usually provided with an area where two sinks, a shower and a toilet were installed. In Iaşi and Brăila prisons there was no shower, he had to wash in the sink or carry water and wash himself in the toilet if he wanted privacy. Hot water was provided twice a week for a period of only two hours, in which there was not always time for everyone to wash:
(d) presence of bed bugs and other parasites (all prisons): in Bacău and Iaşi prisons he could not sleep at night because of bed bugs falling on him from the upper bed. No disinfection was ever carried out by the prison authorities and in Bacău and Iaşi prisons the detainees were not even allowed to bring in their own disinfecting products from outside;
(e) lack of adequate ventilation in the cells in the summer when the temperature was extremely high; the windows were too small, covered by bars and nets or by the extra bunk beds which were placed in every cell (all prisons);
(f) the prisons had no place specially designed for eating (all prisons): he was forced to eat in the cell where there was no adequate furniture – no chairs or tables, the distance between the bunk beds was such that he could not sit up straight on his bed;
(g) damp: in the Vaslui Prison there was so much damp that there was always water on the floors;
(h) not enough daylight in the cells and electricity provided only for a few hours during the day and evening so that he was forced to read and write in the dark most of the time (all prisons);
(i) dirty mattresses and bed sheets (all prisons);
(j) very poor quality of food (all prisons);
(k) poor medical treatment and lack of medicines (all prisons): the prison infirmary was open only once a week; whenever he had a cold, an infection or even for the rheumatic fever he acquired in prison, the applicant was usually given only aspirin, as there were never other medicines available at the prison infirmary. In addition, he suffered from toothache and other associated aches and pains and, despite repeatedly asking, he was never taken to a dentist or given any painkillers, even when he finally developed a tooth infection and suffered pain for several weeks in a row.
5. In addition, the applicant alleged that the inhuman conditions of detention were aggravated by his constant and unnecessary transfers between prisons and between various cells in the same prison. He also alleged that on numerous occasions he had to share the cell with mentally ill detainees who sometimes acted in strange ways, terrifying him or making his life unbearable.
6. The applicant alleged that he had constantly complained of the
above-mentioned detention conditions, including the lack of adequate medical treatment, to the prison authorities. He had even detailed his complaints in person to the directors of all the prisons he was held in. The authorities always replied by mocking him or threatening to put him in cells with even poorer conditions. Moreover, on two occasions, he was called into the warden’s office and forced, under the threat of making his detention conditions even worse, to write and sign statements saying that he was very satisfied with his detention conditions and that he was not the person who had sent written complaints in this respect.
COMPLAINT
7. The applicant complains under Articles 1, 3, 17 and 53 of the Convention that the detention conditions he was subjected to in the prisons of Bacău, Iaşi, Galaţi, Brăila, and Vaslui amounted to inhuman and degrading treatment, and even torture.
QUESTIONS TO THE PARTIES
Has the applicant been subjected to inhuman or degrading treatment, in breach of Article 3 of the Convention, on account of the conditions of detention in Bacău, Iaşi, Galaţi, Brăila, and Vaslui Prisons?
The Government are invited to submit information concerning the conditions of the applicant’s detention in the above prisons in particular as regards overcrowding, sanitary facilities, hygiene, the quality of food and of the medical assistance.
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