CCPR/C/118/D/2152/2012
1.
The author of the communication is S.P., a national of the Russian Federation born
on 4 February 1971, at the time of submission serving a prison sentence in a State
penitentiary in Komi Republic, Russian Federation. The author claims that the State party
has violated his rights under articles 7, 10 (1) and (2) and 26 of the Covenant. The Optional
Protocol entered into force for the State party on 1 October 1991. The author is
unrepresented.
The facts as submitted by the author
2.1
On 22 August 2006, the author was arrested on suspicion of committing a sexual
offence against a juvenile and on 1 September 2006, he was transferred to the pretrial
detention centre in Syktyvkar, Komi Republic. At 7 p.m. he was subjected to a body search,
which included having to strip naked and an inspection of all his belongings. Two hours
later the search was repeated. The author submitted that afterwards he was detained in the
“rubber cell” for 18 hours, where the conditions were as follows: a strong smell of rubber
and absence of ventilation, which caused him difficulties in breathing; he was forced to
strip down to his underpants but the cell was not heated, while the temperature outside was
12ºC, which resulted in him getting a cold; he was denied access to the toilet and not given
food or water, which resulted in him having problems with urination for several days; and
his sleep was disturbed every half an hour.
2.2
On 2 September 2006, after he was released from the rubber cell and provided with
blankets and a spoon, the author made a request to be placed separately from the other
detainees, since he was an ex-employee of the penitentiary. Also on 2 September 2006, the
author underwent a medical examination. He did not complain regarding his cold and
problems with urination at that time, because the symptoms appeared only later. From 2 to
3 September, he was placed alone in a cell with four-person occupancy capacity. On 3
September, the author was transferred to a punishment cell, where he remained for one and
a half months. The punishment cell was 2m x 3m in size, located half underground and
lacking daylight; he was denied visits to the bathing facilities; and he was constantly
threatened and verbally assaulted by other detainees, placed in adjacent punishment cells.
2.3
Following his requests to be transferred from the punishment cell, he was moved
several times to other cells, including to overcrowded cells with detainees with previous
convictions for murder, mentally ill detainees and others who exposed the author to the
surreptitious use of psychotropic substances. In cell No. 38 he was detained with four other
persons, two with previous convictions, one with mental illness and one former officer. In
cell No. 37, the author was held with two other persons, both with previous convictions; in
cell No. 31, which was designed for two persons, the author was held with two other
detainees and had to sleep on the floor; in cell No. 33, also designed for two persons, the
author was held with three other detainees, one of whom had mental health issues, and he
and another detainee had to sleep on the floor. In January 2007, the author was given a liceridden mattress, which caused him to develop a severe skin condition. 1 His requests for a
new mattress were denied. The author maintained that the employees of the pretrial
detention centre deliberately disclosed the circumstances of the accusations against him to
the other detainees. He was constantly threatened by other detainees, owing to the nature of
the criminal offence of which he was suspected and his previous occupation as an employee
of the penitentiary. As a result of the constant pressure, on 10 June 2007, he attempted to
1
2
The author submitted letters from two of his cellmates confirming the condition in the cells as he
describes them and that they were given lice-ridden mattresses. One of the cellmates testifies in his
letter that the author appeared depressed after being transferred from the punishment cell and that he
was often harassed by other detainees when he was in contact with them during transfers to court. The
other testifies that the third individual in their cell systematically humiliated the author, forced him to
take unknown pills and took his paper and pens to prevent him from writing complaints.