Communicated on 26 May 2016

SECOND SECTION

Application no. 24316/13 Aleksandr SAAREPU against Estonia lodged on 3 April 2013

STATEMENT OF FACTS

The applicant, Mr Aleksandr Saarepu , is a stateless person, who was born in 1966 and lives in Narva , Estonia.

A. The circumstances of the case

The facts of the case, as submitted by the applicant and as they appear from the documents submitted to the Court, may be summarised as follows.

Between 11 January 2010 and 8 March 2010 as well as 11 March 2010 and 10 May 2010 the applicant was detained in Jõhvi Police Detention House.

Between 25 February 2010 and 10 May 2010 the applicant went for outdoor walks on 40 occasions. During that period the applicant on five occasions spent a whole hour outside. Usually his stay outside lasted for twenty minutes, and on some occasions for one minute. The records for the earlier period of 10 January 2010 until 24 February 2010 had already been destroyed by the time the prison authorities were requested to submit them to the domestic courts (these records had to be retained for a period of one year).

On 7 February 2011 the Tartu Administrative Court dismissed the applicant ’ s complaint concerning, among other things, the insufficiency of outdoor walks. An appeal was dismissed by the Tartu Court of Appeal on 16 July 2012. The appellate court noted among other things that though the applicant had alleged that he had not been allowed outdoor walks, he had not indicated to the courts any specific days when he had asked for it, but his request had been refused. The court concluded that given the evidence before it, it had not been established that the applicant had been refused the possibility of outside walks despite his requests. On 13 November 2012 the Supreme Court declined to examine the applicant ’ s appeal.

B. Relevant domestic law

Pursuant to section 93(5) of the Imprisonment Act a person in custody shall be allowed, at his or her request, to be in the open air for at least one hour daily.

C. Relevant international material

The Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) Standards (document no. CPT/ Inf /E (2002) 1 - Rev. 2015), at page 18 point 48, reads as follows:

“... The requirement that prisoners be allowed at least one hour of exercise in the open air every day is widely accepted as a basic safeguard (preferably it should form part of a broader programme of activities). The CPT wishes to emphasise that all prisoners without exception (including those undergoing cellular confinement as a punishment) should be offered the possibility to take outdoor exercise daily. ...”

The Report to the Estonian Government on the visit to Estonia carried out by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) from 30 May to 6 June 2012, in so far as relevant, reads: “35. The CPT was concerned to note that the regime offered to detained persons was impoverished in all the police detention houses visited and, at best, consisted of daily outdoor exercise of one hour. ... 36. ... In fact, anyone detained for 24 hours or more should be offered outdoor exercise every day.”

COMPLAINT

The applicant complains under Article 3 of the Convention that during his detention he could only have two or three outdoor walks a week.

QUESTION TO THE PARTIES

Did the possibility of having two or three outdoor walks a week during the applicant ’ s detention amount to inhuman or degrading treatment prohibited by Article 3 of the Convention?