2023-05-02 15:07:00
The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has ordered Russia to pay compensation of 20,000 euros each to prisoners who were abused as “outcasts” in Russian prisons. The court in Strasbourg on Tuesday found it proven that the eleven plaintiffs were at the bottom of the prison hierarchy and as such “pariahs” were subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment. Under the threat and use of violence, they were assigned menial jobs and denied basic needs such as bedding, hygiene and medical care, it said in Strasbourg. This led to mental and physical suffering beyond the prison term. The plaintiffs lodged their complaint with the Human Rights Court between 2013 and 2017. According to them, the practices were allowed and tacitly approved by prison staff.
According to the judges, Moscow violated Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which prohibits torture and inhuman or degrading treatment. The judges cited testimonies from the detainees, as well as academic research into conditions in Russian prisons and Moscow’s failure to comment on the allegations.
The fact that the abuses were not committed directly by prison staff does not diminish the responsibility of the state, the judges further noted. The Russian authorities have not taken any measures to protect them or to improve prison conditions in general.
Russia joined the European Convention on Human Rights in 1998, compliance with which is punishable by the ECtHR. However, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year, Moscow was expelled from the Council of Europe.
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