THIRD SECTION

Application no. 63289/12 Razvan LELEA against Romania lodged on 25 September 2012

STATEMENT OF FACTS

The applicant, Mr Răzvan Lelea , is a Romanian national, who was born in 1981 and lives in Oradea.

The circumstances of the case

The facts of the case, as submitted by the applicant, may be summarised as follows.

The applicant had been detained for a period of nine months and twenty six days in the Oradea and Satu Mare Penitentiaries.

He had been detained in the Oradea Penitentiary from 20 September 2011 until 1 March 2012, where he initially shared a fourteen beds cell with eleven other inmates, and later, with thirteen other inmates. No details as to the size of the cell could be provided, as the prison administration did not answer the applicant ’ s request for such data .

On 1 March 2012 the applicant had been transferred to the Satu Mare Penitentiary, from where he had been released on 16 July 2012. He alleges that in the Satu Mare Penitentiary he had been detained together with six other detainees in a cell of six square meters (4 m x 1.5 m) .

Upon the applicant ’ s request, the prison administration informed him on 20 February 2013 that “the data concerning the number and the size of the cells is confidential and could only be provided upon request of authorized institutions”.

The applicant further alleges that, especially in the Satu Mare Prison, the toilets were in such an unsanitary condition that they were unfit for use; that during winter it was very cold as the heaters were old and not functional and that the mattresses were old, di rty and infested with bed bugs.

The applicant also complains that he did not receive enough food (for example, each morning every six people would receive one spoon of margarine) and that he never received eggs, fruit, or meat, but only bones .

He adds that the exercise rooms were improper, that all the machines were rusty and dangerous and that the space where they took their daily walks was extremely small (40 square meters for around 100 people allowed to take walks at the same time).

The applicant adds that the showers were only available twice a week for merely one hour, during which time 100 persons had to use them, which made it difficult to take proper showers.

Moreover, the applicant states that he was transported between the penitentiaries and the national courts in inhuman conditions, in very hot or very cold vans, depending on the outside temperature, and having to urinate in plastic recipients.

COMPLAINT

The applicant complains under Article 3 of the Convention about the inhuman and degrading conditions in both penitentiaries, notably about overcrowding and unsatisfactory sanitary conditions, and about the conditions of his transport between the penitentiaries and the national courts.

QUESTIONS TO THE PARTIES

1. Had the applicant been subjected, in breach of Article 3 of the Convention, to inhuman or degrading treatment in the Oradea and Satu Mare Penitentiaries and during his transport between the penitentiaries and the national courts?

2. The Government is invited to provide information on the applicant ’ s detention conditions in the Oradea and Satu Mare Penitentiaries, in particular in connection with the material conditions of the cells where the applicant had been detained, namely the size of the cells, the number and size of the windows, the number of beds and the number of persons being detained in the same cell with the applicant, the furniture, the heating and the sanitary installations available in the cell. The Government is also invited to provide information regarding the quality of the food provided to the applicant .

3. The Government is invited to provide information regarding the conditions of the applicant ’ s transport between the above mentioned Penitentiaries and the courts.