IDRISOV v. RUSSIA and 12 other applications

 
Communicated on 3 June 2019
 
THIRD SECTION
Application no. 19498/11
Zubayr Adlanovich IDRISOV against Russia
and 12 other applications
(see list appended)
STATEMENT OF FACTS
The applicants are Russian nationals serving their sentences in various regions of Russia. The facts of the cases, as submitted by the applicants, may be summarised as follows.
A.  The circumstances of the cases
Between 2009 and 2018 the applicants living in different North Caucasus regions were prosecuted and convicted within different criminal proceedings of participation in illegal armed groups, preparation of attempts on the life of police officers, illicit storage and manufacturing of firearms and explosives, abetting terrorist acts.
The applicants allege that during and/or after their arrests by different law-enforcement officers they were subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment and torture by the use of electric shocks, beatings, burnings, and threats with sexual violence. The arrest records were drawn up hours or days after the factual arrests had taken place.
As a consequence of the alleged ill-treatment, the applicants were forced to sign self-incriminating statements given during questionings as suspects or accused in the presence of state appointed lawyers. During the investigation or trial, the applicants retracted their self-incriminating statements as given under duress.
The applicants’ complaints about the ill-treatment at the hands of the state officers were rejected on various grounds, inter alia, that their injuries were caused to them in the course of their arrests and in response to their resistance, or the facts of the ill-treatment were not confirmed during the inquiry and their allegations were ill-founded.
The applicants’ personal details as well as other relevant information about the circumstances of their respective detentions and their attempts to complain about ill-treatment at domestic level are summarised in the Appendix.
B.  Relevant domestic law and practice
For the relevant provisions of domestic law, see Lyapin v. Russia (no. 46956/09, §§ 96-102, 24 July 2014) and Ryabtsev v. Russia (no. 13642/06, §§ 48-52, 14 November 2013).
COMPLAINTS
The applicants complain under Article 3 of the Convention that they were ill-treated by the law-enforcement officers and the inquiries into their allegations of ill-treatment were ineffective.
 
Under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention Mr Idrisov (no. 19498/11), Mr Khavash Magomadov and Bislan Magomadov (no. 2309/13), Mr Magomedov (no. 8414/13), Mr Edilbiyev (no. 62835/13), Mr Ektumayev (no. 65036/14), Mr Magomedov (no. 58738/15), Mr Askhabaliyev (no. 17709/18) and Mr Shakhruyev (no. 42330/18) that the criminal proceedings against them were unfair as the conviction was based on their confession statements obtained under duress.
 
In addition, four applicants complain under Article 5 § 1 of the Convention about their unrecorded detention:
between 1.00 p.m. 3 September 2009 and 7.00 a.m. 4 September 2009 (Mr Idrisov, no. 19498/11);
between 19 and 25 September 2010 (Mr Khavash Magomadov and Mr Bislan Magomadov, no. 2309/13);
between 11.00 a.m. 5 July 2011 and 7.25 a.m. 8 July 2011 (Mr Edilbiyev, no. 62835/13).
 
Under Article 13 of the Convention Mr Idrisov (no. 19498/11), Mr Khavash Magomadov and Bislan Magomadov (no. 2309/13), Mr Akavov (no. 1504/13), Mr Ashabokov and Mr Tanov (no. 73154/13) complain that they had no effective domestic remedies in respect of their complaints under Article 3 of the Convention.


COMMON QUESTIONS
1.  Having regard to the injuries found on the applicants shortly after the arrest by state officers, have the applicants been subjected to torture, or inhuman or degrading treatment, in breach of Articles 3 and 13 of the Convention (see, among other authorities, Razzakov v. Russia, no. 57519/09, 5 February 2015; Gorshchuk v. Russia, no. 31316/09, 6 October 2015; Turbylev v. Russia, no. 4722/09, 6 October 2015; Fartushin v. Russia, no. 38887/09, 8 October 2015; Aleksandr Andreyev v. Russia, no. 2281/06, 23 February 2016; and Leonid Petrov v. Russia, no. 52783/08, 11 October 2016)?
 
2.  Have the authorities discharged their burden of proof by providing a plausible or satisfactory and convincing explanation of how the applicants’ injuries were caused (see Salman v. Turkey [GC], no. 21986/93, § 100, ECHR 2000‑VII, and Bouyid v. Belgium [GC], no. 23380/09, §§ 83 et seq., ECHR 2015)? In particular, was the recourse to physical force made strictly necessary by the applicants’ own conduct (see Rizvanov v. Azerbaijan, no. 31805/06, § 49, 17 April 2012)?
 
3.  Did the authorities carry out an effective investigation, in compliance with the procedural obligation under Article 3 of the Convention (see Lyapin v. Russia, no. 46956/09, §§ 125-40, 24 July 2014; Samesov v. Russia, no. 57269/14, § 54, 20 November 2018)?
CASE SPECIFIC QUESTIONS
1.  Applications nos. 19498/11, 2309/13, 62835/13
 
As regards each instance of the alleged detention, were the applicants deprived of their liberty, within the meaning of Article 5 § 1 of the Convention? If such detentions took place, were they compatible with the guarantees of Article 5 §§ 1 – 5 of the Convention?
 
2.  Applications nos. 19498/11, 2309/13, 8414/13, 62835/13, 65036/14, 66406/14, 58738/15, 17709/18
 
In the determination of criminal charges against the applicants, did they have a fair trial as required by Article 6 § 1 of the Convention, having regard to the fact that the applicants’ confession statements allegedly obtained under duress served as the ground for their conviction?
 
3.  Applications nos. 19498/11, 1504/13, 2309/13, 62835/13
 
Have the applicants had at their disposal effective domestic remedies in respect of their complaints under Articles 3, as required by Article 13 of the Convention?

APPENDIX
No.
Applicant name
Date of birth
Application no.
Lodged on
Place of residence
Represented by
 
Region
Details about arrest, location of the police station
Arrest record
(if available)
Medical evidence:
date of examination,
document type
(date of the document)
Applicants’ complaints about ill treatment to the domestic authorities (first complaint, latest refusal to open a criminal case and reasons for refusal,
the latest domestic courts’ decision under Art. 125 CCP and reasoning)
Applicants’ trial and appeal courts’ judgments and the results of the examination of their allegations of ill‑treatment, if any 
Zubayr Adlanovich IDRISOV
13/09/1991
 
19498/11
 
05/03/2011
 
Chechnya
 
Anton Igorevich RYZHOV
 
Chechnya, Shalinskiy district
 
De facto arrest on 03/09/2009 at around 1.00 p.m. in the Shalinskiy OVD. Taken to the premises of battalion “Yug”
 
Arrest record drawn up on 04/09/2009 (around 7 a.m.)
 
04/09/2009
Confessed during interview as a suspect in the presence of a lawyer
 
05/09/2009 / 09/12/2009
Reiterated his confession during interview as an accused
 
Photos of the applicant’s injuries
 
Extract from the ambulance journal
of 08/09/2009
(a brain injury, hematomas on the head)
 
Forensic medical examination act no. 1408 of 14/12/2009
(no injuries)
 
Medical examination act no. 695-Д of 10/02/2011
(on 05/09/2009 when the applicant was admitted to IVS, he had hematomas on the face, bruise on the right foot caused by use of a hard blunt object, the timeframe not possible to determine; no objective data to confirm the brain injury)
 
28/04/2010
First complaint in trial
 
21/02/2011
Latest (6th) refusal to open a criminal case
 
(unfounded allegations of ill-treatment aimed to evade criminal responsibility)
 
 
Supreme Court of Chechnya
Convicted on 08/06/2010
 
(the applicant was arrested on the day as indicated in arrest record;
confession statements given in the presence of a lawyer;
the applicant’s allegations of ill‑treatment have been examined and dismissed by the refusal to open a criminal case)
 
15/09/2010
Supreme Court of Russia
  
Aslanbek Valeryevich ADAYEV
30/03/1983
 
49750/11
 
18/07/2011
 
Kabardino-Balkar Republic
 
Kabardino-Balkar Republic
 
Arrested on 18/09/2010 at 5.00 a.m. by police officers (МВД КБР), taken to the anti‑extremism centre (Центр "Э"), then to FSB
 
No information about arrest record
Certificate no. 36 drawn up by an ambulance on 19/08/2010
(multiple bruises on the chest and legs, closed craniocerebral injury)
 
Extract from the medical record issued by a hospital on 25/11/2010
(hospitalisation between 22/10 and 25/11/2010, diagnosed with a closed craniocerebral injury)
First complaint of 07/10/2010
 
13/01/2011
First refusal to open a criminal case
(lack of corpus delicti)
 
14/03/2013
Latest (at least 4th) refusal to open a criminal case (quashed on 18/06/2013)
 
Urvanskiy district court
Convicted on 18/01/2011
 
(ill-founded allegation of ill-treatment)
 
18/03/2011
Supreme Court of Kabardino-Balkar Republic
  
Ibragim Magomedovich AKAVOV
10/02/1986
 
1504/13
 
12/12/2012
 
Pyatigorsk
 
Gennadiy Vladimirovich AKSENOV
 
Pyatigorsk, Stavropolskiy Region
 
Arrest on 09/04/2012 at around 9.00 p.m.
in his sister’s house in Pyatigorsk by FSB officers, taken to Mineralnyye Vody and then to FSB premises in Pyatigorsk
 
Arrest record drawn up on 10/04/2012
(at 4.00 p.m.)
 
 
Photos of the applicant’s injuries
 
Forensic medical examination act no. 729 of 25/04/2012
 
(thermal burn on the right buttock resulted from the use of hot objects, bruise on the left shoulder, hemorrhage in the fifth finger of the right hand resulted from the use of hard blunt objects; injuries were caused within 9-16 days before the examination)
 
First complaint of 16/04/2012
 
29/06/2012
Refusal to open a criminal case
(no physical force was used; injuries described in the decision but not explained; names of officers who had conducted arrest were not disclosed)
 
23/10/2012 investigator quashed the refusal
 
23/10/2012
Pyatigorsk garrison military court dismissed the complaint in view of the reversal of the refusal
 
02/11/2012
Appeal to the North-Caucasian military district court
 
No information about further developments of the proceedings
 
Stavropol Regional Court
Convicted on 07/03/2013
 
24/06/2013
Supreme Court of Russia
  
Khavash Sultanovich MAGOMADOV (App. 1)
26/01/1982
 
N. Novgorod
 
Bislan Shakhidovich MAGOMADOV (App. 2)
26/01/1982
 
Moscow
 
2309/13
 
25/12/2012
 
Olga Aleksandrovna SADOVSKAYA
 
Chechnya, Grozny
 
Arrested on 19/09/2010 (in the evening) near market in Grozny by officers of police department no. 4 and allegedly taken to an abandoned house in Katayama in the vicinity of Grozny.
App 1 allegedly was shot in the left leg
 
Placed in IVS on 24/09/2010
 
Arrest records drawn up on 25/09/2010 (between 2.00 and 3.00 a.m.)
 
25/09/2010
(between 5.00 a.m. and 7.00 p.m.)
Confessed during interviews as suspects in the presence of lawyers M. and K.
 
(App 1) Forensic medical examination act no. 1139 of 13/10/2010
(bullet wound on the left hip, no information as to the timeframe)
 
Medical examination act no. 1245 of 09/11/2010
(burn wounds on the feet, left leg, bruises on the legs, causes and timeframe impossible to determine)
 
(App 2) Forensic medical examination act no. 1132of 13/10/2010
(burn wounds on both legs caused by boiled water, little toe on the right foot amputated, deformation of a big finger of the left hand)
 
 
08/11/2010
First refusal to open a criminal case
 
03/12/2012
Latest (14th) refusal to open a criminal case
 
(no physical force was used)
 
17/09/2012
Staropromyslovskiy district court
(allegations of ill-treatment have been examined and dismissed in trial proceedings)
 
 
Supreme Court of Chechnya
Convicted on 21/03/2012
 
10/07/2012
Supreme Court of Russia
 
(as to the confession allegedly obtained under duress, the allegations of ill‑treatment were unsubstantiated)
 
Held in IVS between 20/12 and 28/12/2010
 
 
(App 1) Forensic medical examination act no. 1462 on 29/12/2010
(bruises on the left feet and hand resulted from the use of current-carrying wire, scars on the lower limbs, no medical documents were provided for a detailed conclusion)
 
(App 2) Forensic medical examination act no. 1451 of 29/12/2010
(multiple bruises and abrasions on the chest, belly and both forearms possibly resulted from cutting object, scar on the right hand possibly resulted from the use of current-carrying wire, no medical documents were provided for a detailed conclusion) 
Arslan Askhabaliyevich MAGOMEDOV
20/06/1986
 
8414/13
 
23/01/2013
 
Magadan
 
Dokka Saydaminovich ITSLAYEV
 
Dagestan, Makhachkala
 
Arrested on 15/08/2010 by the police officers (МОРО ГУ МВД России по СКФО), taken to an abandoned house, then taken to the Center for Terrorism Counteraction
 
Arrest record drawn up on 18/08/2010
(at 00.10 a.m.)
 
18/08/2010
Confessed during interview as a suspect in the presence of State appointed lawyer Z.
 
25/08/2010
Reiterated his statements during the interview as an accused in the presence of a lawyer
 
16/02/2011
Retracted his statements during the interview as an accused in the presence of lawyer U. of his choosing
Photos of the applicant’s injuries
 
Forensic medical examination act no. 408 of 17/02/2011
 
(scar on the left hand resulted from the use of handcuffs)
First complaint of 16/02/2011
 
14/03/2011
Refusal to open a criminal case
 
(the complaint was transferred to North Caucasus Federal District investigation unit, the inquiry not completed to date)
 
Supreme Court of Dagestan
Convicted on 30/05/2012
 
20/08/2012
Supreme Court of Russia
 
(injuries have been caused during the arrest, confession statements given in the presence of a lawyer) 
Mansur Mustafayevich EDILBIYEV
18/05/1986
 
62835/13
 
27/09/2013
 
Verkhniy Chov
 
Daria Vladimirovna TRENINA
 
Moscow
 
Arrested on 05/07/2011 around 11.00 a.m. by FSB officers, taken to an undisclosed location
 
Arrest record drawn up on 08/07/2011
(at 7.25 a.m.)
 
08/07/2011 (at 12.30 p.m.)
Confessed during the interview as a suspect in the presence of appointed lawyer A.
 
22/06/2012
Extract from IZ medical certificate
(multiple hematomas, bruises on the body, hands, face on 08/07/2011)
 
No date
Statements of the applicant’s mother and his lawyer testifying that two weeks after the applicant’s abduction they visited him in IZ and that he had bruises on the face, neck, arms, multiple hematomas on the body
 
07/07/2011
The applicant’s father complaint to the investigative committee about the disappearance of his son
 
First complaint about ill-treatment in trial
 
30/07/2013
Complaint to the investigative committee about ill‑treatment lodged by applicant’s lawyer T.
 
28/08/2013
Complaint transferred to the Main Investigative Department in Moscow
 
08/11/2013
Complaint transferred to the 517th military investigative department
Moscow City Court
Convicted on 10/12/2012
 
(confession statements given in the presence of a lawyer, unfounded allegations of ill-treatment)
 
27/03/2013
Supreme Court of Russia
  
Temirkan Sofyanovich ASHABOKOV (App. 1)
21/07/1995
 
Artur Mukhamedovich TANOV (App. 2)
12/03/1992
 
73154/13
 
08/11/2013
 
Baksan
 
Vanessa KOGAN
 
Kabardino-Balkar Republic
 
Arrested on 13/02/2012 at 1.30 p.m. on the road between Nalchik and Baksan by officers of the anti-extremism centre (Центр “Э” ГУ МВД России по СКФО), taken to an undisclosed location
 
14/02/2012 (in the morning)
Police department in the Chegemskiy district (ОМВД РФ по Чегемскому району)
 
No information about arrest records
 
App 1 (minor) was released
 
App 2 was taken to IVS then SIZO on 15/02/2012
 
(App 1) Medical examination act no. 33-A of 15/02/2012
(bruises in the lumber spine area, abrasions on the left ear, right hand caused by use of a hard blunt object within 1-3 days before the examination)
 
(App 2) Medical examination act no. 36-A of 17/02/2012
(closed craniocerebral injury, bruises on the face and legs caused by use of a hard blunt object within 1-3 days before the examination)
 
First complaint of App 1 of 16/02/2012
 
First complaint of App 2 of 27/02/2012
 
15/01/2013
Latest (13th) refusal to open a criminal case
(ill-founded allegations of ill-treatment, they have been examined and dismissed in his trial proceedings)
 
24/01/2013 Chegemskiy district court
discontinued the proceedings referring to the conviction
 
14/05/2013
Supreme Court of KBR
quashed the court’s decision
 
24/06/2013
Chegemskiy district court
allowed the appeal in part, decalring inactivity of the investigator unlawful in view of the refusals
 
No information about further developments of the proceedings
Chegemskiy district court
Convicted on 28/09/2012
 
No information about further proceedings 
Yusup Vakhayevich EKTUMAYEV
12/02/1993
 
65036/14
 
06/09/2014
 
Tyumen
 
Maria Stanislavovna GAVRILOVA
 
Chechnya, Sunzhenskiy district
 
Arrested on 17/04/2012 (in the evening)
in the Sunzhenskiy district department of the interior (ROVD) (ОМВД по Сунженскому району)
 
Arrest record drawn up 18/04/2012
(at 10.00 a.m.)
 
18/04/2012 (at 12.30 p.m.)
Confessed during interview as a suspect in the presence of lawyer A.
Forensic medical examination act no. 145 of 19/04/2012
(no injuries)
 
Forensic medical examination act no. 265 of 18/05/2012
 
(multiple scars in the right knee area, left underarm area, on the left shoulder that could be formed one month before the examination)
(the proceedings are common for applicants Ektumayev and Madayev)
 
 
Report on the discovery of evidence of crime
of 26/06/2012
 
26/08/2013
Latest (2nd) refusal to open a criminal case
(no physical force was used)
 
18/02/2015
Complaint to the Achkhoy-Martanovskiy district court
 
02/03/2015
Investigative committee quashed the refusal
 
06/03/2015
Achkhoy-Martanovskiy district court discontinued the proceedings in view of the quashing of the refusal
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Supreme Court of Chechnya
Convicted on 17/09/2013
 
(confession statements given by Mr Ektumayev in the presence of a lawyer)
 
06/03/2014
Supreme Court of Russia
  
Makhmud Mamedovich MADAYEV
26/09/1990
 
66406/14
 
02/10/2014
 
Assinovskaya
 
Igor Aleksandrovich KALYAPIN
Chechnya, Sunzhenskiy district
 
Arrested on 17/04/2012 around 10.00 a.m.
in the applicant’s house by the police officers of the Sunzhenskiy district department of the interior (ОМВД по Сунженскому району), taken to the Sunzhenskiy ROVD
 
Arrest record drawn up on 18/04/2012
(at 10.00 a.m.)
 
Forensic medical examination act no. 146 of 19/04/2012
(no injuries)
 
Forensic medical examination act no. 267 on 18/05/2012
 
(multiple scars on the right shoulder and back that could be formed within one month before the examination) 
Rustam Anvarovich KHAYBULAYEV
20/08/1972
 
32268/15
 
26/06/2015
 
Ishkarty
 
STICHTING RUSSIAN JUSTICE INITIATIVE
 
Dagestan, Buynaksk
 
Arrested on 20/07/2013 at the applicant’s apartment by police officers of the district department of the interior in Buynaksk (ОМВД по г. Буйнакск), taken to police department in Buynaksk (ГОВД г. Буйнакс),then to an undisclosed place
 
Arrest record drawn up on 21/07/2013
(at 10.00 a.m.)
 
Certificate drawn up by the ambulance no. 1187 of 23/07/2013
(multiple bruises on the body, abrasion on the hand)
 
Forensic medical examination act no. 297 of 24/07/2013
(abrasions on the face and hands, bruises on the back caused by the use of hard blunt object within four days before the examination)
 
First complaint of 23/07/2013
 
08/08/2013
Refusal to open a criminal case
 
18/11/2014
Buynakskiy district court
declared the refusal unlawful
 
26/12/2014
Supreme Court of Dagestan
quashed the court decision of 18/11/2014
 
(the use of physical force was not confirmed)
Buynakskiy City Court
Convicted on 15/01/2014
  
Imangazali Shakhbanovich MAGOMEDOV
06/07/1980
 
58738/15
 
13/11/2015
 
Shaumyan
 
Dokka Saydaminovich ITSLAYEV
 
Dagestan, Kizlyarskiy district
 
Arrested on 02/06/2014 at around 9.00 p.m.
on the road, taken to Kizlyarskiy ROVD
 
Arrest record drawn up on 03/06/2014
(at 6 a.m.)
 
Taken to IVS on 04/06/2014 at 8.00 p.m.
 
03/06/2014 / 04/06/2014
Confessed during interview as a suspect allegedly in the absence of a lawyer
 
Photos of the applicant’s injuries
 
Forensic medical examination act no. 274 of 12/06/2014
(a bruising under the left eye, on the inner surface of the right shoulder, outer and front surface of the right hip, two abrasions on the back resulted from the use of a hard blunt object)
 
First complaint of 11/06/2014
 
26/11/2014
Latest (2nd) refusal to open a criminal case
 
(the applicant resisted the arrest)
 
Kizlyarskiy district court
Convicted on 11/03/2015
 
(confession statements were given in the presence of a lawyer; as to the injuries, the applicant resisted the arrest)
 
13/05/2015
Supreme Court of Dagestan
  
Khayrupa Abdulkhalikovich ASKHABALIYEV
14/11/1975
 
17709/18
 
22/03/2018
 
Novyy Khushet
 
Yelena Nikolayevna MOSKALETS
 
Dagestan, Kyzlyar
 
Arrested on 14/04/2016 at around 8.00 p.m.
on the road by traffic police officers, taken by officers of the anti-extremism centre to an undisclosed location in Makhachkala
 
Arrest record drawn up on 16/04/2016
 
17/04/2016 / 05/09/2016
Confessed during interviews as a suspect and accused in the presence of lawyers M. and R.
Extract from IZ medical journal of 16/04/2016
 
(bruise on the chest, bruises on the abdominal wall, according to the applicant, he fell down the stairs)
 
IZ medical act of 27/04/2016
 
(bruise on the chest, bruises on the abdominal wall, fingers of both hands, right elbow, laceration in the lower back)
 
Complaint during the trial
 
11/07/2017
Refusal to open a criminal case
 
(the applicant actively resisted the arrest, tried to run away, handcuffs and rubber truncheon were used, the applicant allegedly fell on railways)
 
North-Caucasian military district court
Convicted on 21/07/2017
 
(the injuries have been caused by the applicant’s resistance to arrest)
 
19/10/2017
Supreme Court of Russia
 
(confession statements given in the presence of lawyers, including lawyer M. of his own choosing)
  
Abutalib Khalitovich SHAKHRUYEV
23/10/1987
 
42330/18
 
24/08/2018
 
Enem
 
Arsen Khidirnabiyevich SHABANOV
 
Dagestan, Makhachkala
 
Arrested on 05/07/2017 at around 4.30 p.m.
on the road by officers of the anti-extremism centre (Центр по противодействую экстремизму МВД России по Республике Дагестан), taken to its premises.
 
06/07/2017 (at 6.50 p.m.)
Confessed during interview as a suspect in the presence of lawyer K.
 
Arrest record drawn up on 06/07/2017 at 8.20 p.m.
 
At 9.45 p.m.
Reiterated statements during the interview as an accused in the presence of lawyer K.
Extract from IVS journal of 07/07/2017
 
(hematoma on the right eye and shoulder, in the pelvic area and buttocks, multiple bruises on the back, stomach, right leg, feet, a bruise on the cheek)
 
IZ medical act of 09/07/2017
 
(hematoma on the right eye, on the back, the left buttock)
 
First complaint of 03/10/2017
 
12/10/2017
Refusal to open a criminal case
 
(the injuries were inflicted during the arrest, the applicant tried to escape)
 
01/03/2018
Deputy prosecutor quashed the refusal
 
Kirovskiy district court
Convicted on 23/03/2018
 
(confession statement given in the presence of a lawyer)
 
16/05/2018
Supreme Court of Dagestan
 
 

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