Lexploria

THIRD SECTION

CASE OF SUCHKOV AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA

( Application no. 6496/14 and 9 others -

see appended list )

JUDGMENT

STRASBOURG

4 May 2017

This judgment is final but it may be subject to editorial revision.

In the case of Suchkov and Others v. Russia ,

The European Court of Human Rights ( Third Section ), sitting as a Committee composed of:

Luis López Guerra, President, Dmitry Dedov , Branko Lubarda , judges , and Karen Reid , Section Registrar ,

Having deliberated in private on 30 March 2017 ,

Delivers the following judgment, which was adopted on that date:

PROCEDURE

1. The case originated in applications against Russia lodged with the Court under Article 34 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“the Convention”) on the various dates indicated in the appended table.

2. The applications were communicated to the Russian Government (“the Government”).

THE FACTS

3. The list of applicants and the relevant details of the applications are set out in the appended table.

4. The applicants complained of the inadequate conditions of their detention . Some applicants also raised other complaints under the provisions of the Convention.

THE LAW

I. JOINDER OF THE APPLICATIONS

5. Having regard to the similar subject matter of the applications, the Court finds it appropriate to examine them jointly in a single judgment.

II. ALLEGED VIOLATION OF ARTICLE 3 OF THE CONVENTION

6. The applicants complained principally of the inadequate conditions of their detention. They relied on Article 3 of the Convention, which reads as follows:

Article 3

“No one shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.”

7. The Court notes that the applicants were kept in detention in poor conditions. The details of the applicants ’ detention are indicated in the appended table. The Court refers to the principles established in its case ‑ law regarding inadequate conditions of detention (see, for instance, Kud Å‚a v. Poland [GC], no. 30210/96, §§ 90 ‑ 94, ECHR 2000 ‑ XI, and Ananyev and Others v. Russia , nos. 42525/07 and 60800/08, §§ 139 ‑ 165, 10 January 2012). It reiterates in particular that extreme lack of space in a prison cell or overcrowding weighs heavily as an aspect to be taken into account for the purpose of establishing whether the impugned detention conditions were “degrading” from the point of view of Article 3 and may disclose a violation, both alone or taken together with other shortcomings (see, amongst many authorities, Karalevičius v. Lithuania , no. 53254/99, §§ 36–40, 7 April 2005).

8. In the leading case of Sergey Babushkin v. Russia, no. 5993/08, 28 November 2013, the Court already found a violation in respect of issues similar to those in the present case.

9. Having examined all the material submitted to it, the Court has not found any fact or argument capable of persuading it to reach a different conclusion on the admissibility and merits of these complaints. Having regard to its case-law on the subject, the Court considers that in the instant case the applicants ’ conditions of detention were inadequate.

10. These complaints are therefore admissible and disclose a breach of Article 3 of the Convention.

III. REMAINING COMPLAINTS

11. In applications nos. 6496/14, 8185/14, 10447/14, 11990/14, 23057/14 and 30097/14, the applicants submitted other complaints which also raised issues under the Convention, in accordance with the relevant well-established case-law of the Court (see appended table). These complaints are not manifestly ill-founded within the meaning of Article 35 § 3 (a) of the Convention, nor are they inadmissible on any other ground. Accordingly, they must be declared admissible. Having examined all the material before it, the Court concludes that they also disclose violations of the Convention in the light of its findings in Sergey Babushkin , cited above, §§ 38-45.

IV . APPLICATION OF ARTICLE 41 OF THE CONVENTION

12. Article 41 of the Convention provides:

“If the Court finds that there has been a violation of the Convention or the Protocols thereto, and if the internal law of the High Contracting Party concerned allows only partial reparation to be made, the Court shall, if necessary, afford just satisfaction to the injured party.”

13. Regard being had to the documents in its possession, to its case ‑ law and the long delay for some of the applicants in filing the application , the Court considers it reasonable to award the sums indicated in the appended table.

14. The Court considers it appropriate that the default interest rate should be based on the marginal lending rate of the European Central Bank, to which should be added three percentage points.

FOR THESE REASONS, THE COURT , UNANIMOUSLY,

1. Decides to join the applications;

2. Declares the applications admissible;

3. Holds that these applications disclose a breach of Article 3 of the Convention concerning the inadequate conditions of detention ;

4. Holds that there has been a violation as regards the other complaints raised under well-established case-law of the Court (see appended table);

5. Holds

(a) that the respondent State is to pay the applicants, within three months, the amounts indicated in the appended table, to be converted into the currency of the respondent State at the rate applicable at the date of settlement;

(b) that from the expiry of the above-mentioned three months until settlement simple interest shall be payable on the above amounts at a rate equal to the marginal lending rate of the European Central Bank during the default period plus three percentage points.

Done in English, and notified in writing on 4 May 2017 , pursuant to Rule 77 §§ 2 and 3 of the Rules of Court.

Karen Reid Luis López Guerra Registrar President

APPENDIX

List of applications raising complaints under Article 3 of the Convention

( inadequate conditions of detention )

No.

Application no. Date of introduction

Applicant name

Date of birth

Facility

Start and end date

Duration

Number of inmates per brigade

Sq. m. per inmate

Number of toilets per brigade

Specific grievances

Other complaints under well-established case-law

Amount awarded for pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage and costs and expenses per applicant

(in euros) [1]

6496/14

18/12/2013

Aleksandr Borisovich Suchkov

06/09/1963

IK-6 Samara Region

31/12/2004 to

01/11/2013

8 year(s) and 10 month(s) and 2 day(s)

120 inmate(s)

4 toilet(s)

absence of toilet bowls was particularly bothersome for the applicant suffering from arthritis and osteochondrosis and using walking stick, insects, only one pair of shoes for every two years (both winter and in summertime), tuberculosis, hepatitis and scabies-infected inmates in cell, no individual sleeping place, poor lighting, poor quality of food

Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in respect of inadequate conditions of detention

5,000

8185/14

11/12/2013

Artem Sergeyevich Ilyushin

18/01/1984

IK-29 Kirov Region

07/07/2010

pending

More than 6 year(s) and

8 month(s) and 24 day(s)

230 inmate(s)

1.5 m²

tuberculosis-infected inmates in the unit, poor sanitary conditions in toilets (stench and insects and no heating), poor quality of food, lack of requisite medical assistance, poor quality of water, no ventilation

Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in respect of inadequate conditions of detention

15,000

9962/14

09/01/2014

Sergey Petrovich Kucherov

13/09/1968

IK-13 Sverdlovskiy Region

15/07/2005

pending

More than 11 year(s) and 8 month(s) and 16 day(s)

187 inmate(s)

1 m²

5 toilet(s)

5 sinks, no hot water, squat toilets

14,800

10447/14

23/12/2013

Aleksey Yuryevich Belov

05/11/1976

IK-30 Perm Region

25/11/2011 to

13/11/2013

1 year(s) and 11 month(s) and 20 day(s)

130 inmate(s)

1.5 m²

8 toilet(s)

6 sinks, no ventilation, poor quality of food, overcrowding, lack of space for outdoor exercise (60 sq. m.), no hot water

Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in respect of inadequate cond itions of detention

5,000

11990/14

10/04/2014

Sergey Mikhaylovich Koshelev

09/05/1971

IK-29 Kirov Region

27/01/2009 to

23/04/2014

5 year(s) and 2 month(s) and 28 day(s)

IK-29 Kirov Region

30/07/2014 to

21/01/2015

5 month(s) and 23 day(s)

1.5 m²

2.4 m²

no ventilation, lack of space for outdoor exercise, no heating in toilet house

no heating in toilet house, lack of space in a dining room

Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in respect of ina dequate conditions of detention

6,800

17857/14

19/03/2014

Sergey Valeryevich Pavlov

15/08/1981

IK-5 Kirov Region

03/04/2012 to

23/10/2014

2 year(s) and 6 month(s) and 21 day(s)

2.5 m²

no ventilation, no hot water, poor quality of water, low temperature, no access to natural light, poor lighting, mould on the walls

7,000

21159/14

03/07/2014

Oleg Olegovich Sitnov

06/05/1984

IK-52/1 Nizhniy Novgorod Region

17/10/2012

pending

More than 4 year(s) and

5 month(s) and 14 day(s)

no ventilation, no individual sleeping place (sleeping on the floor), irregular outdoor exercise, low temperature, poor lighting

13,300

22581/14

01/03/2014

Pavel Leonidovich Golovnev

05/12/1983

IK-1 Tver Region

05/09/2013

pending

More than 3 year(s) and

6 month(s) and 26 day(s)

1.4 m²

mice and rats, stench, no ventilation

12,800

23057/14

08/01/2014

Igor Anatolyevich Kalashnikov

05/02/1968

IK-29 Kirov Region

20/06/2011 to

04/12/2013

2 year(s) and 5 month(s) and 15 day(s)

2.5 m²

almost no access to fresh air and natural light, low partition between the toilet and the living space, the toilet was 1 m away from the dining table, no privacy when using toilet, stench

Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in respect of inadequate con ditions of detention

5,000

30097/14

20/07/2014

Maksim Sergeyevich Zyuzin

27/04/1981

IK-2 Zabaykalskiy Region

23/01/2014

pending

More than 3 year(s) and

2 month(s) and 8 day(s)

no partition between the toilet and the living space, no ventilation, poor access to natural light, poor lighting, poor sanitary conditions

Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in respect of inade quate conditions of detention

11,800

[1] . Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants.