CASE OF MARO AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA

  THIRD SECTION CASE OF MARO AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA (Applications nos. 31274/19 and 34 others – see appended list)               JUDGMENT   STRASBOURG 7 November 2024   This judgment is final but it may be subject to editorial revision. In the case of Maro and Others v. Russia, The European Court of Human Rights (Third Section), sitting as a Committee composed of:  Ioannis Ktistakis, President,  Oddný Mjöll Arnardóttir,  Diana Kovatcheva, judges, and Viktoriya Maradudina, Acting Deputy Section Registrar, Having deliberated in private on 10 October 2024, 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 dates indicated in the appended table. 2.  The Russian Government were given notice of the applications. 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 that, as “outcast” inmates, they faced a risk of treatment prohibited by Article 3 of the Convention due to segregation, humiliating practices, and abuse in their daily lives while in detention. They highlighted the heightened risk of inter-prisoner violence due to prison hierarchy, the authorities’ failure to address that risk, and the lack of any effective remedy in domestic law. The applicant in application no. 12919/21 raised other complaints under the Convention provisions. THE LAW JOINDER OF THE APPLICATIONS5.  Having regard to the similar subject matter of the applications, the Court finds it appropriate to examine them jointly in a single judgment. Jurisdiction6.  The Court observes that the facts giving rise to the alleged violations of the Convention occurred prior to 16 September 2022, the date on which the Russian Federation ceased to be a party to the Convention. The Court therefore decides that it has jurisdiction to examine the present applications (see Fedotova and Others v. Russia [GC], nos. 40792/10 and 2 others, §§ 68‑73, 17 January 2023). ALLEGED VIOLATION OF ARTICLES 3 AND 13 of the Convention7.  The applicants complained of inhuman and degrading treatment in Russian penal facilities due to their inferior position within an informal prisoner hierarchy and the alleged lack of effective domestic remedies for their complaints in that regard. They relied, expressly or in substance, on Articles 3 and 13 of the Convention. 8.  In the leading cases of S.P. and Others v. Russia (nos. 36463/11 and 10 others, 2 May 2023) and D v. Latvia (no. 76680/17, 11 January 2024), the Court already found violations of Articles 3 and 13 of the Convention in respect of issues similar to those in the present case. The Court held that the physical and symbolic separation of “outcast” prisoners, coupled with restricted access to basic prison resources and denial of human contact, caused mental anxiety exceeding the unavoidable level of suffering inherent in detention, even when they were not subjected to physical violence or threats of violence (see S.P. and Others, cited above, § 96, and D v. Latvia, cited above, § 51). It also found that the domestic authorities had not taken adequate steps to protect the applicants from the treatment associated with their belonging to the stigmatised group or implemented effective mechanisms to improve their situation or address the issue comprehensively. 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. It finds that the applicants belonged to the stigmatised group of prisoners and endured degrading treatment on that account. They also did not have access to an effective remedy in respect of these complaints. 10.  These complaints are therefore admissible and disclose a breach of Articles 3 and Article 13 of the Convention. OTHER ALLEGED VIOLATIONS UNDER WELL-ESTABLISHED CASE-LAW11.  The applicant in application no. 12919/21 submitted other complaints which also raised issues under the Convention, given the relevant well‑established case-law of the Court (see the 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 well-established case-law (see Gorlov and Others v. Russia, nos. 27057/06 and 2 others, 2 July 2019, concerning permanent video surveillance of detainees and the absence of an effective domestic remedy to complain about it). APPLICATION OF ARTICLE 41 OF THE CONVENTION12.  Regard being had to the material in its possession and to its case‑law (see S.P. and Others, cited above, § 114), the Court considers it reasonable to award the sums indicated in the appended table. FOR THESE REASONS, THE COURT, UNANIMOUSLY, Decides to join the applications;Holds that it has jurisdiction to deal with these applications as they relate to facts that took place before 16 September 2022; Declares the applications admissible;Holds that these applications disclose a breach of Articles 3 and 13 of the Convention;Holds that there has been a violation of the Convention as regards the other complaints raised under the well-established case-law of the Court (see the appended table); 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 7 November 2024, pursuant to Rule 77 §§ 2 and 3 of the Rules of Court.  Viktoriya Maradudina Ioannis Ktistakis  Acting Deputy Registrar President   APPENDIX List of applications raising complaints under Articles 3 and 13 of the Convention (inhuman and degrading treatment of “outcast” inmates as a result of segregation, humiliating practices and abuse in their daily life while in detention, heightened risk of inter-prisoner violence and lack of any effective remedy in domestic law) No. Application no. Date of introduction Applicant’s name Year of birth   Representative’s name and location Facility Start and end date Other complaints under well‑established case-law Amount awarded for pecuniary and non‑pecuniary damage and costs and expenses per applicant (in euros)[1]    31274/19 23/05/2019 Rubens Aleksandrovich MARO 1983     IK-2 Republic of Adygea 18/09/2017 - 24/01/2019   20,000    36611/19 05/07/2019 Vyacheslav Vladimirovich STETSIK 1995     SIZO-1 Krasnoyarsk; SIZO-6 Krasnoyarsk Region; IK-5 OIK-36 Krasnoyarsk Region; IK-31 Krasnoyarsk; IK-16 Gromadsk, Krasnoyarsk Region 29/01/2016 - 03/01/2022   20,000    40643/19 28/07/2020 Vladimir Mikhaylovich MARKIN 1972     IK-5 Krasnoyarsk Region 10/08/2009 - at least until the date of introduction of the application before the Court   20,000    45911/19 22/08/2019 Mikhail Petrovich LAPEYEV 1982     IK-5 Mordovia Republic 28/02/2012 - 05/04/2019   20,000    50325/19 13/09/2019 Dmitriy Sergeyevich MARININ 1987     IK-5 Kirov Region 15/03/2016 - 05/09/2019   20,000    53443/19 03/10/2019 Mikhail Alekseyevich RODENKO 1974     IK-5 Republic of Mordovia 16/08/2016 - 09/04/2019   20,000    54414/19 26/12/2019 Sergey Valeryevich ZHILIN 1975     SIZO-1 Krasnoyarsk; SIZO-3 Achinsk, Krasnoyarsk Region; OIK-36 LIU-35; IK-16 Gromadsk, Krasnoyarsk Region; IK-5 OIK-36 Startsevo, Krasnoyarsk Region 03/07/2016 - 25/01/2022   20,000    57809/19 23/10/2019 Pavel Sergeyevich GOLUBEV 1986     IK-6 Krasnoyarsk Region; IK-23 Krasnoyarsk Region; KTB-1 Krasnoyarsk; IK-5 Krasnoyarsk Region 02/06/2017 - at least until the date of introduction of the application before the Court   20,000    59375/19 01/11/2019 Ivan Sergeyevich RUMYANTSEV 1982     IK-1 Kostroma Region 26/04/2019 - 19/10/2021   20,000  10176/20 03/02/2020 Anton Veniaminovich SEREDKIN 1981       IK-3 Irkutsk Region   20/02/2018 - at least until the date of introduction of the application before the Court     20,000  29163/20 16/10/2020 Dmitriy Aleksandrovich SUVOROV 1984     SIZO-6 Leningrad Region 01/03/2018 - 17/04/2020     20,000  40680/20 20/08/2020 Valeriy Sergeyevich PAVLICHENKO 1975     FKU KP-14 Krasnoyarsk Region 28/11/2019 - at least until the date of introduction of the application before the Court   26,000  42927/20 24/09/2020 Vadim Vladimirovich FADEYEV 1972 Oksana Vladimirovna PREOBRAZHENSKAYA Strasbourg IK-9 Novgorod Region 18/11/2018 - at least until the date of introduction of the application before the Court     20,000  43367/20 01/09/2020 Bogdan Olegovich MATLIN 1999 Aleksandr Vladimirovich VINOGRADOV Kostroma IK-2 Kostroma Region   21/01/2019 - 04/03/2020     20,000  44184/20 19/09/2020 Aleksey Vladimirovich KUDRYASHOV 1976 Aleksandr Vladimirovich VINOGRADOV Kostroma IK-1 Kostroma Region   25/12/2019 - 30/07/2020     20,000  51450/20 13/10/2020 Andrey Vladimirovich LOSEV 1982 Aleksandr Vladimirovich VINOGRADOV Kostroma IK-1 Kostroma Region   26/07/2016 - 09/07/2020     20,000  53883/20 12/11/2020 Vladislav Sergeyevich KRASNOTSVETOV 1983 Aleksandr Vladimirovich VINOGRADOV Kostroma IK-1 Kostroma Region   27/08/2019 - 24/07/2020     20,000  7732/21 13/01/2021 Aleksey Alekseyevich PRONENKO 1975     IK-5 Krasnoyarsk Region   20/11/2018 - at least until the date of introduction of the application before the Court     20,000  12919/21 05/02/2021 Vladimir Sergeyevich NEKHAYENKO 1985     IK-5 Krasnoyarsk Region   04/10/2019 - at least until the date of introduction of the application before the Court Art. 8 (1) - permanent video surveillance of detainees in pre-trial or post-conviction detention facilities - IK-5 Krasnoyarsk Region, detention since 20/07/2018 - ongoing on the date of introduction of the application with the Court, opposite-sex operators,   Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of permanent video surveillance in detention facilities 20,000  14433/21 11/02/2021 Aleksandr Ilyich EGADZE 1986 Aleksandr Vladimirovich VINOGRADOV Kostroma IK-1 Kostroma Region   25/07/2017 - 22/12/2020     20,000  15172/21 17/02/2021 Aleksandr Dmitriyevich KIREYEV 1993 Aleksandr Vladimirovich VINOGRADOV Kostroma IK-4 Kostroma Region   07/04/2020 - 03/11/2020     20,000  18873/21 21/03/2021 Yuriy Mikhaylovich SOROKIN 1983     IK-1 Komi Region   2013 - at least until the date of introduction of the application before the Court   20,000  19094/21 11/03/2021 Andrey Nikolayevich IVANOV 1980 Aleksandr Vladimirovich VINOGRADOV Kostroma IK-1 Kostroma Region   16/01/2019 - 22/09/2020     20,000  33099/21 11/06/2021 Andrey Aleksandrovich ALMAZOV 1985     IK-3 Irkutsk Region   28/01/2019 - at least until the date of introduction of the application before the Court     20,000  48423/21 13/09/2021 Sergey Sergeyevich TOKMAKOV 1993     IK-3 Irkutsk Region   29/11/2019 - at least until the date of introduction of the application before the Court     20,000  49964/21 15/09/2021 Anton Yuryevich PILISHEK 1982     IK-5 Krasnoyarsk Region   23/08/2021 - at least until the date of introduction of the application before the Court   20,000  50628/21 02/09/2021 Aleksey Mikhaylovich SALIKOV 1985     SIZO Minusinsk, Krasnoyarsk Region; IK-5 Startsevo, Krasnoyarsk Region; KP-41 Irkutsk Region   12/09/2014 - at least until the date of introduction of the application before the Court     20,000  52101/21 06/10/2021 Yevgeniy Aleksandrovich KOZLOV 1984     SIZO-1 Krasnoyarsk; Remand centre at IK-6 Krasnoyarsk; IK-34 Startsevo, Krasnoyarsk Region; KTB-1 Krasnoyarsk; IK-27 Krasnoyarsk; IK-5 Startsevo, Krasnoyarsk Region 13/07/2014 - at least until the date of introduction of the application before the Court   20,000  55105/21 11/01/2022 Georgiy Aleksandrovich POPKOV 1986     IK-3 Fornosovo, Leningrad Region   13/05/2021 - at least until the date of introduction of the application before the Court     20,000  59319/21 02/02/2022 Aleksandr Dmitriyevich CHISTOV 1985     IK-1 Mordovia Region   October 2021 - at least until the date of introduction of the application before the Court     20,000  2925/22 21/11/2021 Pavel Aleksandrovich MAKAROV 1973     IK-3 Leningrad Region   2008 - at least until the date of introduction of the application before the Court   20,000  4879/22 21/12/2021 Aleksandr Aleksandrovich SAYBERT 1975 Nadezhda Valeryevna RADNAYEVA Sofia IK-3 Irkutsk Region 09/10/2011 - at least until the date of introduction of the application before the Court   20,000  6753/22 26/04/2022 Dmitriy Vyacheslavovich BURDYKO 1981     FKU LIU-32 Krasnoyarsk Region   30/04/2021 - 30/12/2021     20,000  16782/22 09/02/2022 Yevgeniy Vitalyevich ZAKHAROV 1996     FKU Krasnoyarsk Region   2017 - at least until the date of introduction of the application before the Court     20,000  24223/22 06/04/2022 Valentin Mikhaylovich YASINSKIY 1996     IK-25 Komi Republic   24/11/2016 - at least until the date of introduction of the application before the Court     20,000     [1] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants.