Torture and Ill-treatments: The European Court of Human Rights Ruled over Russian Violations of Article 3 of the Convention

Torture and Ill-treatments: The European Court of Human Rights Ruled over Russian Violations of Article 3 of the Convention
hoto by Markus Spiske from Unsplash

02-12-2022

Beatrice Serra

International Justice and Human Rights Researcher

Global Human Rights Defence

The European Court of Human Rights recently delivered several judgements to shed light over the severe human rights violations perpetrated by the Russian government. On December 1, 2022, the Court released six judgments acknowledging severe breaches of Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights, pursuant which “No one shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.”

The violations detainees have been subjected to begins with inadequate conditions of detention during transport and continued while detained. According to evidence, individuals experienced long-hour train transportation where they were overcrowded in “a small compartment” with “insufficient number of sleeping places, lack of or insufficient electric light, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, lack of privacy for toilet, lack or inadequate furniture, mouldy or dirty cell, no or restricted access to toilet, no or restricted access to warm water, no or restricted access to potable water, overcrowding, passive smoking”. (The Case of Kashin And Petkyavichus V. Russia, 2022; The Case Of Gatagazhev And Lugachev V. Russia, 2022) Other detainees denounced torture and ill-treatments during imprisonment, including beatings producing “abrasions and bruises on the head, neck, back, chest, upper and lower limbs, brain concussion”. (The Case Of Monakhov And Silverstov V. Russia, 2022) In recognising violations of Article 3 of the Convention, the Court recalled that 

“persons in custody are in a vulnerable position and that the authorities are under a duty to protect their physical well-being and that any recourse to physical force which has not been made strictly necessary by the applicant’s own conduct diminishes human dignity and is in principle an infringement of the right set forth in Article 3 of the Convention”. (The Case of Nikonorov V. Russia, 2022)

Several complaints also revolved around the confinement of individuals in metal cages while in the courtroom during the criminal proceedings against them. The Court acknowledged in such practice “an affront to human dignity and amounted to degrading treatment prohibited by Article 3 of the Convention”. (The Case Of Zhukov And Others V. Russia, 2022; The Case Of Gvozdev V. Russia, 2022)

In the interpretation of Article 3 of the Convention, the primordial aim of the Court is to render the safeguards enlisted in the Convention practical and effective, as a way to guarantee the respect of the human rights and dignity of each individual. No derogations are ever admissible to the prohibition of torture or ill-treatments. It is the responsibility of each State to develop and implement a legal framework able to protect all individuals, especially the most vulnerable segments of the population often greatly exposed to atrocious practices, and to conduct prompt investigation in case of an alleged violation of Article 3 of the Convention. (European Court of Human Rights, 2022) 

Sources and Further Readings:

European Court of Human Rights (August, 31, 2022), Guide on Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights - Prohibition of torture, ECHR, retrieved on December 2, 2022, from https://www.echr.coe.int/Documents/Guide_Art_3_ENG.pdf

European Court of Human Rights, The Case Of Kashin And Petkyavichus V. Russia (Applications nos. 15007/19 and 17123/19), Judgement (December 1, 2022), https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng#{%22tabview%22:[%22document%22],%22itemid%22:[%22001-221243%22]}. 

European Court of Human Rights, The Case Of Zhukov And Others V. Russia, (Applications nos. 41323/18 and 2 others, Judgement (December 1, 2022), https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng#{%22tabview%22:[%22document%22],%22itemid%22:[%22001-221242%22]}. 

European Court of Human Rights, The Case Of Gatagazhev And Lugachev V. Russia, (Application no. 43813/16), Judgement (December 1, 2022), https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng#{%22tabview%22:[%22document%22],%22itemid%22:[%22001-221234%22]}. 

European Court of Human Rights, The Case Of Monakhov And Silverstov V. Russia, (Applications nos. 19560/16 and 33300/16), Judgement (December 1, 2022), https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng#{%22tabview%22:[%22document%22],%22itemid%22:[%22001-221233%22]}. 

European Court of Human Rights, The Case Of Nikonorov V. Russia, (Application no. 71889/11), Judgement (December 1, 2022), https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng#{%22tabview%22:[%22document%22],%22itemid%22:[%22001-221229%22]}.



European Court of Human Rights, The Case Of Gvozdev V. Russia, (Application no. 29606/19), Judgement (December 1, 2022), https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng#{%22tabview%22:[%22document%22],%22itemid%22:[%22001-221244%22]}.