Communicated on 25 April 2019

THIRD SECTION

Application no. 68434/17 Radik Rinatovich GILMUTDINOV against Russia and 4 other applications (see list appended)

The applicants are all Russian nationals living in various regions of Russia. The facts of the cases, as submitted by the applicants, may be summarised as follows.

A. The circumstances of the cases

Between 2011 and 2017, the applicants were arrested on suspicion of having committed criminal offences in different regions of the Russian Federation.

They allege that during and/or after their arrest they were beaten and subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment by the use of gas masks and electric shocks. The applicants provide different medical documents drawn up shortly after their arrest and describing their injuries (for more details see the Appendix).

Their criminal complaints lodged against police officers were rejected on various grounds (for more details see the Appendix).

The applicants ’ personal details as well as other relevant information about the circumstances of their respective detentions and their attempts to complain about ill-treatment at domestic level, and other complaints, are summarised in the Appendix.

B. Relevant domestic law and practice

For the relevant provisions of domestic law, see Lyapin v. Russia (no. 46956/09, §§ 96-102, 24 July 2014) and Ryabtsev v. Russia (no. 13642/06, §§ 48-52, 14 November 2013).

COMPLAINTS

All applicants complain under Article 3 of the Convention about ill ‑ treatment in police custody and about the lack of an effective investigation in this respect. Certain applicants raised in addition specific complaints, including those subject to the well-established practice, which are outlined in the Appendix.

COMMON QUESTIONS

1. Having regard to the injuries found on the applicants in police custody, have the applicants been subjected to torture, or inhuman or degrading treatment, in breach of Articles 3 and 13 of the Convention (see, among other authorities, Razzakov v. Russia , no. 57519/09, 5 February 2015; Gorshchuk v. Russia , no. 31316/09, 6 October 2015; Turbylev v. Russia , no. 4722/09, 6 October 2015; Fartushin v. Russia , no. 38887/09, 8 October 2015; Aleksandr Andreyev v. Russia , no. 2281/06, 23 February 2016; and Leonid Petrov v. Russia , no. 52783/08, 11 October 2016)?

2. Have the authorities discharged their burden of proof by providing a plausible or satisfactory and convincing explanation of how the applicants ’ injuries were caused (see Salman v. Turkey [GC], no. 21986/93, § 100, ECHR 2000 ‑ VII and Bouyid v. Belgium [GC], no. 23380/09, § 83 and further, ECHR 2015)?

3. Did the authorities carry out an effective official investigation into the applicants ’ allegations of ill-treatment in police custody as required by Article 3 of the Convention (see Labita v. Italy [GC], no. 26772/95, § 131, ECHR 2000 ‑ IV, and Lyapin v. Russia , no. 46956/09 , §§ 125-40, 2 4 July 2014 )?

As regards applications no. 68434/17 ( Gilmutdinov ), no. 41692/18 ( Amakhanov ), no. 46636/18 ( Sveshnikov )

In particular, were the applicants ’ forensic medical examinations carried out in compliance with the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment ’ s (CPT) standards, which are regularly taken into account by the Court in its examination of cases concerning ill-treatment (see Özgür Uyanık v. Turkey , no. 11068/04 , § 36, 23 March 2010; Barabanshchikov v. Russia , no. 36220/02, §§ 48 and 59, 8 January 2009; and Ochelkov v. Russia , no. 17828/05 , § 103, 11 April 2013)?

CASE SPECIFIC QUESTION

Application no. 48932/18 ( Mr Mazurin )

Having regard to the use of the applicant ’ s confession statements made following ill-treatment allegedly sustained in police custody for the purposes of his conviction, did he have a fair trial as required by Article 6 § 1 of the Convention?

APPENDIX

No.

Applicant name

Date of birth

Application no.

Lodged on

Place of residence

Represented by

Details about arrest, location of the police station

Arrest record (if available)

Medical evidence: date of the document, document type

Applicants ’ complaints about ill treatment to the domestic authorities (first complaint, latest refusal to open a criminal case and reasons for refusal, the latest domestic courts ’ decision under Art. 125 CCrP and reasoning)

Applicants ’ trial and appeal courts ’ judgments and the results of the examination of their allegations of ill ‑ treatment, if any

Other complaints

Radik Rinatovich GILMUTDINOV

15/02/1978

68434/17

03/04/2018

Krasnoyarsk

Taken into custody by the decision of the Vokhitovskiy district court in Kazan and placed to IVS on 05/04/2011

Taken to police department no. 6 on 07/04/2011 between 9.00-11.00 p.m.

Forensic medical examination act no. 3145/3103 of 29/04/2011

conducted on 11/04/2011:

Bruise on the left hip, abrasion on the right lower leg caused within 6 ‑ 10 days before the examination, bruises in the left knee area caused within 3-5 days; injuries were caused by use of a hard blunt object

Police officer F. present during the examination

First complaint of 08/04/2011

Latest (7 th ) refusal to open a criminal case of

08/04/2017

14/09/2017

Sovetskiy District Court

22/12/2017

Supreme Court of Tatarstan

( the injuries have been caused prior to the arrest )

Supreme Court of Tatarstan

Convicted on 04/08/2014

Chingiz Ibragimovich AMAKHANOV

28/07/1980

41692/18

16/08/2018

Krasnodar

Tatyana Aleksandrovna TRETYAK

Arrested on 09/09/2014 at 12.00 p.m. at the applicant ’ s work place by police criminal officers in Krasnodar ( уголовн ый розыск МВД по г. Краснодар ) on suspicion of murder

Taken to the police department in Krasnodar ( УМВД по г. Краснодар )

Arrest record drawn up on 09/09/2014 at 10.40 p.m.

Forensic medical examination act no. 5370/2014 of 10/09/2014 (at 3.30 p.m.):

Bruises on the face, back formed with a day before the examination

Police officer A. present during the examination

Medical card issued by hospital no. 1 of 11/09/2014

IVS medical act of 11/09/2014

Bruises on the back, both wrists, left eyelid

First complaint of 27/11/2014

Latest (6 th ) refusal of 25/06/2018

( the applicant ’ s unfounded allegations aimed to evade criminal responsibility )

Criminal proceedings against the applicant are pending

Article 5 § 3

Length of pre-trial detention

09/09/2014 – pending

4 years 5 months

Vladislav Andreyevich GMYRYA

12/09/1990

44879/18

06/09/2018

Krasnodar

Leonid Nikolayevich MAKHOVITSKIY

Arrested on 28/08/2017 at around 1.40 p.m. by the road by police officers of the police department in Krasnodar ( УМВД России по г. Краснодар ) on suspicion of murder

Photos

Medical card no. 100705 issued by hospital on 28/08/2017

IVS medical act of 29/08/2017 (3.55 a.m.)

Note of the hospital of 27/03/2018 confirming that the applicant was hospitalised on 07/09/2017 to the emergency medical care unit having hematomas on the face, head, forearms, hematoma under the left eye, minor concussion

First complaint of 01/09/2017

Latest (3 rd ) refusal of 12/04/2018

08/06/2018

Prikubanskiy District Court

25/07/2018

Krasnodar Regional Court

( the injuries are due to the force used in response to the applicant ’ s active resistance during the arrest )

Criminal proceedings against the applicant are pending

Article 3

Conditions of detention

IZ-23/1 in Krasnodar

07/09/2017 - pending

Anti-sanitary conditions, rodents, rats, toilet within 1 m from a sleeping place partitioned by an iron slab (1 m high), no light, 10 minutes of shower once a week, outside walks 10 minutes in 3 days, cold food.

Conditions of transportation in a van (no heating, ventilation, trips up to 3 hours)

Article 5 § 3

Length of pre-trial detention

30/08/2017 – pending

1 year 5 months

Georgiy Georgiyevich SVESHNIKOV

06/03/1999

46636/18

28/09/2018

Sochi

Yekaterina VANSLOVA

Arrested on 28/04/2017 around 10 p.m. in the school

Taken to the police department in Sochi ( УВД по г. Сочи ) for questioning as a witness and held there until 5.50 p.m.

Medical card no. C-17-21485 of

29/04/2017 issued by hospital no. 4:

Head injury

Surgeon examination on

30/04/2017:

Soft tissue bruises on the back

Forensic medical examination act no. 185 of 03/07/2017

conducted on 11/05/2017:

Bruise near the left eye and temple, insufficient information about the morphological characteristics of injuries

First complaint on 04/05/2017

Latest (2 nd ) refusal of 30/09/2017

15/12/2017

Prosecutor of the Lazarevskiy district (unfounded allegations of ill-treatment)

26/06/2018

Lazarevskiy District Court

15/08/2018

Krasnodarskiy Regional Court

(the appeal dismissed with reference to the prosecutor ’ s decision)

Criminal proceedings against the applicant were terminated

Dmitriy Vladimirovich MAZURIN

13/11/1978

48932/18

28/09/2018

Orenburg

Arrested on 09/05/2017 in the applicant ’ s flat by riot police officers ( СОБÐ по Оренбургской области )

09/05/2017

Confessed during interview as a suspect in the presence of lawyer M.

27/07/2017

Reiterated confession statements during interview as an accused in the presence of lawyer S. of his choosing

IZ-1 Medical act no. 106 of 11/05/2017

Bruises on soft tissues of the face, multiple hematomas on the right shoulder, abrasions on the right forearm, in the left scapular zone, in the temple area

Extract from IVS medical journal (no date)

An abrasion under the right eye

The applicant complained in trial

20/10/2017

Leninskiy District Court

ordered an inquiry into the allegations of ill ‑ treatment

21/02/2018

Refusal to open a criminal case

(the injuries have been caused before the arrest)

Leninskiy District Court

Convicted on 19/03/2018

(t he applicant ’ s allegations of ill-treatment have been examined and dismissed by the refusal to open a criminal case ; confession statements given in the presence of a lawyer)

15/05/2018

Orenburg Regional Court

upheld the conviction

Article 3

Conditions of detention

23/03/2018-30/05/2018

IZ-1 in Orenburg (overcrowding 2 sq.m . per person)

Article 6 § 1

Use of confession obtained under duress in his conviction