CEDH · CASELAW;JUDGMENTS;CHAMBER;ENG — 13 mars 2014

.s800EAC49 { font-size:12pt } .s9793A85B { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-indent:14.2pt } .s29100277 { font-family:Arial; font-weight:bold } .sFE10DC93 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:center } .sBB9EE52A { font-family:Arial } .sA36B60A1 { font-family:Arial; font-style:italic } .s598389FB { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:center; font-size:14pt } .sF5E1C6CF { font-family:Arial; font-weight:bold; text-decoration:underline; color:#ff0000 } .s2E302ED2 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; font-size:14pt } .sE208486F { font-family:Arial; color:#ff0000 } .s2E932ED2 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; font-size:11pt } .s4ACA9207 { page-break-before:always; clear:both; mso-break-type:section-break } .sCB9E0544 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:left } .sB9D5CABB { width:28.35pt; display:inline-block } .sD3B63DAD { margin-top:36pt; margin-bottom:12pt; page-break-inside:avoid; page-break-after:avoid; font-size:14pt } .s79DE5897 { margin-top:18pt; margin-left:17.85pt; margin-bottom:12pt; text-indent:-17.85pt; page-break-inside:avoid; page-break-after:avoid } .sA8776625 { margin-top:18pt; margin-left:29.2pt; margin-bottom:12pt; text-indent:-17.6pt; page-break-inside:avoid; page-break-after:avoid } .s72C8F48C { margin-top:12pt; margin-left:36.6pt; margin-bottom:6pt; text-indent:-15.05pt; page-break-inside:avoid; page-break-after:avoid } .s34D46E87 { margin-top:12pt; margin-bottom:6pt; text-align:center; page-break-inside:avoid; page-break-after:avoid; font-size:10pt } .sAADB120E { margin-top:6pt; margin-left:28.35pt; margin-bottom:6pt; text-indent:7.1pt; font-size:10pt } .sF7A86111 { margin-top:6pt; margin-left:21.25pt; margin-bottom:6pt; text-indent:7.1pt; font-size:10pt } .sB853CD33 { font-family:Arial; font-size:7pt } .sADADF4A7 { font-family:Arial; text-decoration:underline } .s10AB3CA3 { font-family:Arial; color:#222222 } .sC83985A0 { font-family:Arial; font-style:italic; color:#222222 } .s39A7D870 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-indent:14.2pt; page-break-inside:avoid; page-break-after:avoid } .sBB355983 { margin-top:6pt; margin-left:21.25pt; margin-bottom:6pt; text-indent:7.1pt; page-break-inside:avoid; page-break-after:avoid; font-size:10pt } .s583D00FA { margin-top:0pt; margin-left:17pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-indent:-17pt } .s26FF04E7 { margin-top:0pt; margin-left:17.3pt; margin-bottom:0pt } .s4B243ECC { margin-top:12pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-indent:14.2pt; page-break-inside:avoid; page-break-after:avoid } .sA5C4F8A9 { margin-top:36pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:left; page-break-inside:avoid; page-break-after:avoid } .s9732F2A { width:183.3pt; display:inline-block } .s7602FED2 { width:18.21pt; display:inline-block } .sC1AC44A4 { width:228.11pt; display:inline-block }       FIFTH SECTION               CASE OF ANDREY YAKOVENKO v. UKRAINE   (Application no. 63727/11)               JUDGMENT         STRASBOURG   13 March 2014     FINAL   13/06/2014   This judgment has become final under Article 44 § 2 of the Convention. It may be subject to editorial revision. In the case of Andrey Yakovenko v. Ukraine, The European Court of Human Rights (Fifth Section), sitting as a Chamber composed of:   Mark Villiger, President,   Angelika Nußberger,   Boštjan M. Zupančič,   Ganna Yudkivska,   Vincent A. De Gaetano,   André Potocki,   Aleš Pejchal, judges, and Claudia Westerdiek, Section Registrar , Having deliberated in private on 18 February 2014, Delivers the following judgment, which was adopted on that date: PROCEDURE 1.     The case originated in an application (no.   2585/06, subsequently no.   63727/11) against Ukraine lodged with the Court under Article 34 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“the Convention”) by a Ukrainian national, Mr Andrey Olegovich Yakovenko (“the applicant”), on 15 December 2005. 2.     The applicant was initially represented by Mr V.   Chernikov and later by Mr   V.   Komarov, both lawyers practising in Moscow. The Ukrainian Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent, Mr   N.   Kulchytskyy. 3.     The applicant alleged, in particular, that the physical conditions of his detention in Odessa and Kyiv pre-trial detention centres (SIZOs) and during his transportation from Sokyriany to Torez Colony had been intolerable and that there had been no effective domestic remedies for these complaints. 4.     On 9 February 2012 the application was communicated to the Government. THE FACTS I.     THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE CASE 5.     The applicant was born in 1969 and lived in Odessa. He is currently serving a prison sentence in Ukraine. A.     Criminal proceedings against the applicant 6.     In summer 2002 the applicant, who was the president of the Odessa Komsomol (Young Communist League) at the material time, unsuccessfully ran for the Odessa Regional Council. According to him, following the election campaign, the State Security Service of Ukraine (“SSU”) put in place secret surveillance measures against him. 7.     On 15 December 2002 the SSU arrested the applicant in Odessa on suspicion of having organised a criminal group formed of Komsomol members and having planned and directed several violent crimes committed by its members. 8.     On 16 December 2002 the applicant was taken for questioning to Mykolayiv, where several other individuals implicated in membership of the same group had been arrested and detained some time before. 9.     On the afternoon of 16 December 2002 the applicant signed a notice that he had been informed of his rights as a suspect and expressed the wish to have a lawyer. On the same date the applicant was appointed a legal-aid lawyer, A.S. In his presence, the applicant terminated the appointment and stated that he agreed to be questioned without a lawyer, until his wife hired one privately. 10.     On the same date the applicant was questioned and acknowledged his affiliation with the communist party and the Komsomol , a number of whose activists named by the investigator he knew in person. At the same time, the applicant denied having taken part or having been aware of any criminal activity by these individuals. The record of the applicant’s questioning was preceded by his signature, which was underneath a note summarising his rights as a suspect and stating that he had given his consent to take part in the questioning session without legal representation. 11.     On the same date the applicant was placed in Mykolayiv temporary detention centre (ITT), which, according to him, had unsuitable living conditions. The applicant was subsequently remanded in custody and transferred to Mykolayiv pre-trial detention centre (SIZO). 12.     On 17 December 2002 a confrontation was conducted between the applicant and A., one of the individuals implicated in membership of the applicant’s criminal group. The record of the confrontation notes that before the questioning, the investigator informed the parties of their procedural rights and asked the applicant whether, regard being had to the fact that he had no legal representation, he agreed to take part in the confrontation. The applicant expressed his willingness to take part in the confrontation, stating that he felt capable of representing himself at that point. Following this introduction, A., who was represented by a lawyer, testified that the applicant had planned and organised several robberies, in which A. and some other individuals from the Komsomol had been involved. Having heard A.’s statement, the applicant refused to take any further part in the confrontation without a lawyer and the confrontation was discontinued. 13.     On 21 December 2002 lawyer A.A., hired by the applicant’s spouse, was admitted to the proceedings as the applicant’s representative. 14.     On 25 December 2002 the applicant was indicted on a number of charges including organising and directing a terrorist group with a view to re-establishing a communist state by violent means and being in charge of several robberies (“expropriations”) committed in order to raise funds for the group. Following his indictment, the applicant was questioned in A.A.’s presence. During questioning, the applicant reiterated his previous position and denied involvement in any criminal activity. Asked whether he had been subjected to any psychological or physical ill-treatment by the investigative authority, the applicant stated that he had not been subjected to any ill-treatment. 15.     On 21 February 2003 the applicant terminated A.A.’s appointment, as the further investigation of his case had been transferred to the Odessa branch of the SSU, whereas A.A. practiced in Mykolayiv. 16.     On 3 March 2003 the applicant was transported to Odessa no.   21 pre-trial detention facility (“the Odessa SIZO”), where he was detained until November 2005. 17.     On 19 March 2003 the applicant was further questioned as a criminal defendant. Before the questioning session began, he signed a waiver of his right to legal representation, having indicated that he was capable of defending his own interests. During questioning, the applicant refused to answer any questions, referring to his constitutional right to remain silent. Questioned several more times in spring 2003, the applicant signed further waivers of his right to legal representation and chose to remain silent. 18.     On 18 April 2003, referring to his ability to represent his own interests, the applicant refused to accept the appointment of legal-aid lawyers D. and R., who had been selected by the authorities, and asked for no further legal-aid lawyers to be appointed during the investigation stage. 19.     On 21 May 2003 lawyer A.   K., engaged by the applicant’s wife, was admitted to the proceedings as the applicant’s new representative. The applicant, questioned in her presence, refused to testify and chose to remain silent. 20.     On 27 May 2003 the investigation was finished and the applicant, along with ten other individuals implicated in membership of the same criminal group, was committed to stand trial before the Odessa Regional Court of Appeal (“Regional Court”), acting as a first-instance court. 21.     On 24 July 2003 the applicant and his lawyer A.K. both signed an affidavit that they had familiarised themselves with the forty-four volume case file. 22.     In the beginning of September 2003 the Regional Court held a preparatory hearing in the applicant’s case and allowed requests made by the applicant’s co-defendants R., S. and D. for additional time to study the case-file materials. 23.     On 3 September 2003 the applicant’s spouse terminated A.   K.’s appointment, referring to financial difficulties, and the applicant asked the court to appoint a lawyer to represent him. 24.     At the next court hearing (on 24 September 2003) the Regional Court appointed O.K. as the applicant’s new lawyer and granted her time to study the case file. On the same date the court rejected the applicant’s request for additional time to study the case file, referring, in particular, to his affidavit that he had studied it in full, to his failure to lodge this request before the beginning of the trial, and to the fact that the applicant would be able to seek to have case-file documents that were to be examined at a particular hearing read out in full or in part by the court before their examination. 25.     On an unspecified date the Regional Court rejected the applicant’s request to appoint his father, who was not a lawyer, as his lay defender, referring to a conflict of interests that would arise if this was allowed. In particular, the applicant’s father had been summoned for questioning as a witness in the case. According to the applicant, his father was never questioned in the end and never even received an official summons. 26.     On 17 November 2003 the applicant’s lawyer, O.K., did not attend the hearing. 27.     On 24, 25 and 26 November 2003 the applicant asked for O.K. to be excluded from the proceedings, alleging that she had been passive in representing his interests, had not been supportive of his chosen defence strategy, and that he would prefer to be represented by a privately-funded lawyer. On 26 November 2003 the applicant’s request was allowed and he was given until 1 December 2003 to engage a privately-funded lawyer. 28.     On 1 December 2003, the applicant still not having engaged a privately-funded lawyer, the court appointed A.B. as his new legal-aid lawyer. 29.     On 26 January 2004 the applicant sought the replacement of his court-appointed lawyer A.B. with O.K., who had previously represented him as a court-appointed lawyer but who had now been privately engaged by his wife. This request was allowed and O.K. represented the applicant until the end of the trial. 30.     During the trial, the applicant acknowledged that he had supported communist ideas and had taken part in publishing and distributing propaganda. However, he denied having been involved in any violent crimes. The applicant also complained that the investigative authorities had subjected his co-defendants and himself to ill-treatment with a view to breaking their moral resistance. In particular, upon the applicant’s arrest in December 2002, the officers had threatened him with physical ill-treatment and had made inappropriate remarks concerning his wife and family life. He had also been transported to Mykolayiv lying handcuffed on the floor of the prison van and blindfolded with a dark hat, which had made him suffocate and caused him to suffer a heart attack. 31.     After the death of B., one of the applicant’s co-defendants, during the trial proceedings, the applicant and his co-defendants demanded an investigation into the circumstances of his death, alleging that it had resulted from torture and that they had also been subjected to ill-treatment at the investigation stage. Following the investigation, the prosecutor’s office reported to the Regional Court that B. had died of cancer and there had been no evidence of ill-treatment of the other co-defendants. 32.     According to the applicant, it was very difficult for him to concentrate during the trial. In particular, his health was adversely affected by the conditions of his detention and the lack of medical assistance for his heart problems available to him in Odessa SIZO. 33.     He noted, in particular, that between March and November 2003 he was detained in cell no.   187 in block 2 of Odessa SIZO, which was about eight square metres in size, had four beds and, at the time of his arrival, accommodated five detainees. The sanitary facilities were not separated from the living quarters. The wardens thwarted all the inmates’ attempts to gain some privacy by separating them with a curtain. The applicant’s inmates were repeat offenders. Some of them suffered from contagious diseases, such as HIV and tuberculosis. The administration ignored the applicant’s demands to be moved, as a healthy person with no criminal record, to a different cell. In November 2003 the applicant was relocated to a different cell, which was very similar in terms of physical and sanitary conditions. In addition, access to bathing facilities was very irregular. Furthermore, on various occasions the detainees were arbitrarily and brutally searched and beaten by special detachments of the armed forces. 34.     The applicant further noted that he suffered from hypertension, vegetative-vascular dystonia, coronary artery disease and arrhythmia, for which he received no proper care in Odessa SIZO. The applicant’s family sent him medicines, which on some occasions were unreasonably withheld. 35.     The applicant also submitted that on court days he and his co-defendants were routinely taken out of their cells at about 6   a.m. and placed with some 20-30 other inmates scheduled to be transported on that day in a special transit box, which measured some 15-20 square metres, had no windows and no heating. In such conditions the applicant and his co-defendants had to wait several hours for a prison van to come. Upon their return from court, they also routinely had to wait for several hours in the same holding area before being escorted to their regular cells. As a result, they missed meal time and were often left hungry. The “packed lunches” provided to them consisted solely of bread. Sometimes hot lunches were made available at court, but their provision was irregular. 36.     The applicant also maintained that he had raised complaints about these issues in court, but to no avail. He presented unofficial copies of court transcripts, according to which on 22 December 2003 the applicant asked for a hearing to be adjourned as he felt unwell. On 9 January 2004 the applicant asked for a medical appointment in a cardiology clinic. On 10   January 2004 he complained in court that on that day the convoy officers had made the defendants run, while handcuffed and bent over, up to the courtroom located on the sixth floor and had beaten his co-defendant P., who had stumbled and fallen. On 3 February 2004 the applicant complained that he was only allowed to have one-hour daily outdoor walks, while his heart conditions called for him to walk for two hours a day. On 12 February 2004 the applicant asked the court to investigate the conditions of detention in Odessa SIZO, alleging that his and his co-defendants’ health had been deteriorating. On 15 April 2004 the applicant complained to the Regional Court that on 14 April 2004 he and his co-defendants had been taken out of their cells at 8   a.m. and they had been held in the transit box, which had been cold, until 2   p.m. without lunch. Finally on 16 April 2004 the applicant supported a complaint lodged by his co-defendant S., according to whom on the preceding day he and his co-defendants had had to spend five hours in the cold transit box. As can be seen from the same transcript, the presiding judge advised the applicant and S. to address their complaints to the SIZO governor, which advice they rejected as futile. 37.     According to the Government, the conditions of the applicant’s detention were sufficient to meet his basic needs and compatible with his state of health. While the records enabling the identification of the applicant’s inmates and their health status had not been preserved, inmates suffering from contagious diseases were segregated from other detainees in accordance with the applicable rules. The Government provided numbers of various cells in which the applicant was held throughout his time in Odessa SIZO and indicated that these cells measured from 7.6 to 8.5 square metres and were designed to accommodate four inmates each and had not been overcrowded. They were equipped with windows giving sufficient access to natural light, had functioning sanitary facilities, tap water, heating, electric light and ventilation. Detainees were provided with three meals per day, one-hour daily walks and weekly access to bathing facilities. 38.     The Government further maintained that the applicant’s state of health had been regularly monitored by the SIZO medical staff on account of his pre-existing conditions (hypertension, vegetative-vascular dystonia, coronary artery disease and arrhythmia). In December 2003 the applicant underwent inpatient treatment in the SIZO medical unit for his premature ventricular contractions (arrhythmia). In addition, on several occasions the applicant also had consultations with civilian specialist doctors. In particular, on 15 January 2004, following the applicant’s request for a consultation with a civilian cardiologist, he was examined by the Odessa Emergency Clinic’s cardiologist, who confirmed his previous diagnoses and gave recommendations as to his further outpatient treatment, which was administered in the SIZO. In March 2004 the applicant underwent a medical assessment by a panel of civilian doctors and was certified to be in satisfactory health and fit for detention and trial. The Government presented a copy of a medical certificate, according to which on 12 March 2004 the applicant had been examined by an ophthalmologist, a urologist, a physician, a pulmonologist, a cardiologist and a neurologist from the Odessa Regional Hospital. 39.     The Government also maintained that the applicant and his co-defendants had always been promptly transported to and from the courthouse and had received breakfast and dinner in the SIZO. They had also been provided with either a packed lunch or hot lunch delivered to the court on hearing days. The catering had been organised by officer K., and, while copies of the available menus had not been kept, there was no record of any irregularity in the catering arrangements, which had been regulated by law. 40.     The Government also maintained that there was no record of any complaints by the applicant or his co-defendants, either with the SIZO administration or with the Odessa Prosecutor’s Office, concerning the conditions of their detention, transportation, catering or medical treatment. They presented affidavits by the Odessa SIZO governor and on behalf of the Odessa Prosecutor’s Office in this respect. 41.     On 19 July 2004 the Regional Court convicted the applicant of propagating a violent revolt against the constitutional order and attempting to undermine the territorial integrity of Ukraine; organising and running a criminal group; participating in a terrorist act (detonation of an explosive in a rubbish bin near the SSU headquarters in Kyiv); smuggling goods across the Russian border; unlawful handling of firearms and explosives; several armed robberies; and engagement of a minor in criminal activity. The applicant was sentenced to fourteen years’ imprisonment. The court also dismissed allegations of ill-treatment raised in respect of the applicant and some of his co-defendants as unsubstantiated. Finally, it noted that, insofar as the complaints of inadequate medical assistance in Odessa SIZO were concerned, the applicant had been examined by civilian medical specialists in March 2004 and had been found to be in a satisfactory state of health and fit to take part in the court proceedings. 42.     On 18 August 2004 the applicant lodged a cassation appeal against this judgment. In his statement of appeal, the applicant reiterated his innocence and his allegations of ill-treatment advanced during the trial. He also reiterated that no medical assistance necessitated by his chronic conditions had been made available to him in Odessa SIZO and that the conditions of his and his co-defendants’ transport to the court premises had been inhuman. In this respect he noted that on 10   January   2004 the convoy had made him and his co-defendants run to the sixth-floor courtroom while handcuffed and bent over and that on 10   March 2004 the detainees had been arbitrarily held in the prison van for an extra two hours on the way back to the SIZO. The applicant further complained in his cassation appeal of a breach of his right to mount a defence. He noted in this respect that he had not been provided with a lawyer upon his arrest; his request to have his father appointed as his lay defender had been rejected; and his lawyer O.K. had not attended the hearing of 17 November 2003. Finally, the applicant complained that his right to have sufficient time and facilities for the preparation of his defence had been breached, as the Regional Court had rejected his request for an extension of time in which to study the case-file materials in preparation for the trial. The applicant also mentioned that he was intending to supplement his statement of appeal with further submissions. No copies of any such submissions were provided to the Court. 43.     On 26 July 2005 the Supreme Court of Ukraine re-qualified the applicant’s conviction for smuggling as aiding and abetting smuggling and otherwise upheld the first-instance court’s judgment. The conviction for distribution of propaganda and attempting to undermine the territorial integrity of Ukraine was not reviewed, as the applicant had not lodged an appeal against it. In its decision, the Supreme Court noted, in particular, that the evidence of the applicant’s guilt included the testimony of his co-defendants and victims of his crimes given during the trial and that there was no evidence that any statements obtained during the pre-trial investigation had been extracted through ill-treatment or in breach of the applicant’s or his co-defendants’ right to mount a defence. Finally, it noted that the Regional Court had properly rejected the applicant’s request for further time in which to study the case-file materials, as it was unsubstantiated. 44.     In November 2005 the applicant was transferred to Sokyriany no.   67 Correctional Colony (“Sokyriany Colony”) to serve his sentence. 45.     In February 2009 the applicant’s lawyer, based in Moscow, Russia, asked the Regional Court to send him a number of documents from the applicant’s case file by post. 46.     On 25 June 2009 the court denied this request, noting, in particular, that it had no facilities with which to prepare and send the copies and that the lawyer could study the case file on the court’s premises. B.     The applicant’s post-conviction detention 1.     Detention in Kyiv SIZO 47.     Between 17 June and 2 August 2005 the applicant was detained in Kyiv pre-trial detention facility (“Kyiv SIZO”) awaiting the review of his conviction in the cassation proceedings. 48.     According to the applicant, the conditions of his detention were detrimental to his health and incompatible with human dignity. In particular, the facility was extremely overcrowded. A cell which contained eleven sleeping places was occupied by twenty-two inmates. The window was covered with metal shutters, barely letting in air and light. The electric light provided in the evenings was so dim that reading or writing could hurt the eyes. The sanitary facilities were not separated from the living quarters. The cell was not ventilated, the metal shutters overheated and the temperature often reached forty degrees. The air, mattresses and pillows were very damp. The provision and change of bedding was irregular. During the one-and-a-half months in which he was held there, the applicant only once had access to the bathing facility. He also received no medical help for his heart problems, which were bothering him because of the unsuitable physical conditions of his detention. 49.     According to the Government, the conditions of the applicant’s detention were reasonably adapted to his needs. The applicant stayed in cells nos.   101, 103 and 110, measuring 60.9 square metres, 31.4 square metres and 9.7 square metres respectively. At the material time cell 101, which was designed to accommodate thirty-eight inmates, was occupied by thirty-four; cell 103, which was designed to accommodate twenty inmates, was occupied by fourteen; and cell 110, which was designed for four inmates, was filled to its capacity. All of the cells were equipped with windows letting in natural light and fresh air, sanitary facilities, sinks, artificial ventilation, refrigerators and televisions. The average temperature in the cells was 20-23 degrees Celsius. The detainees were supplied with soap and bedding, which was regularly changed, and could also buy toiletries in the SIZO shop, if they so wished. They were also provided with three meals a day, and were allowed daily one-hour walks and weekly access to the bathing facility. 2.     Detention in Sokyriany Colony 50.     On 7 November 2005 the applicant was transferred to Sokyriany Colony, where he served his sentence until July 2006. 51.     According to the applicant, upon his arrival on 7 November 2005 and until 15 November 2005 he was detained in the intake area (quarantine cell), which was very damp and unheated. His warm civilian clothes were seized and he was provided with a prison uniform in a size too small for him. This was not remedied until December 2005, when his mother brought warm clothes, which he was allowed to keep. During his mother’s visit, the applicant was allowed to stay with her in the colony’s visitor hostel, which was also barely heated. On various occasions the administration blocked or delayed the applicant’s correspondence and the delivery of communist newspapers to which the applicant subscribed. The applicant was not provided with appropriate medical care and treatment. In addition, the colony administration exerted arbitrary psychological pressure on him by subjecting him to special supervision (for example, the administration placed his bed by the entrance door to the cell in order to be able to supervise him more effectively). 52.     According to the applicant, he and his mother (on his behalf) brought the aforementioned matters to the attention of the colony administration and the prosecutor’s office. However, their complaints were either not dispatched, ignored, or poorly investigated into. 53.     As is evident from the case file, in 2006 the applicant’s mother lodged several complaints with various authorities, in which she referred to irregularities in the colony postal unit’s handling of the applicant’s correspondence and periodical subscriptions, a prohibition on the detainees keeping sugar in the cells, the poor heating of the colony’s visitor hostel and the disappearance of 200 hryvnias (UAH) transferred by her to the applicant’s account. 54.     On 31 March and 25 May 2006 the Chernivtsi Regional Prosecutor’s Office acknowledged certain irregularities in the operation of the colony’s postal unit in their responses to the applicant’s mother and notified her that disciplinary proceedings had been instituted against the officer responsible, while the colony governor had been instructed to improve the oversight of the postal service operation. They further noted that the detainees were forbidden to keep sugar in the cells to prevent alcohol production by them and that in winter 2006 the visitor accommodation had been equipped with movable radiators. Finally, they assured the applicant’s mother that the money purportedly lost had been duly credited to the applicant’s account. 55.     On 6 June 2006 the applicant’s mother wrote a letter to the Chernivtsi Prosecutor’s Office acknowledging an improvement in the delivery of the applicant’s correspondence and thanking them for their intervention. 56.     In June 2006 the applicant’s mother complained on the applicant’s behalf of deterioration in his health. 57.     On 11 July 2006 the applicant lodged a declaration with the colony governor, according to which he had developed skin and liver problems in spring 2006, but stating that he was now satisfied with the treatment he was receiving and had no further requests in this respect or complaints against colony medical staff. 3.     Transit from Sokyriany to Torez Colony 58.     In summer 2006 the applicant was transferred to Torez no.   28 Correctional Colony in the Donetsk Region (“Torez Colony”), which operated under a lower-security regime, to continue serving his sentence. 59.     Having left Sokyriany Colony on 18 July, the applicant arrived in the Torez Colony in September 2006. 60.     According to the applicant, the conditions of his transport were incompatible with his state of health and with human dignity. Long distances were covered in prison trains and shorter ones in prison vans. The transit took several months because he was made to join various groups of prisoners making various shorter connections. The prison train carriages had compartments designed for four to six passengers, which were occupied by eleven or more detainees and their belongings. The overcrowded compartments were not ventilated and in the summer heat (above 30   degrees Celsius) the metal carriages overheated, making it hard to breathe. Reaching a destination took very long time, as upon arrival at an intermediate stop the cars often waited for hours for additional prisoners to be brought to the station or for a new locomotive to be connected to the train. A distance that would be covered in four hours in a regular train could take twenty-four hours or more. The guards escorted the detainees to the bathroom only once every four hours and there was no opportunity to go otherwise. The conditions of transport in the vans were also very uncomfortable. The vans had no windows and largely no ventilation. On many occasions they also took long stops and became overheated in the summer sun, aggravating the symptoms of the applicant’s heart and vascular problems and causing him to suffer intolerably. 61.     The applicant further maintained that the physical conditions in the detention facilities which accommodated him as a detainee in transit between various train and van rides were likewise not suitable for habitation. For instance, the cell in Lviv SIZO had a window facing the inner corridor with no access to natural light. Cell no. 1607 in Donetsk SIZO was located in the basement. It was damp with water dripping from the ceiling and walls covered in mould. Both facilities were heavily overcrowded, with detainees taking turns to sleep, were poorly lit, ventilated and infested with insects. The sanitary facilities in them were not separated from the living quarters. 62.     In addition to the poor physical conditions of detention and transport, the detainees in transit were also subjected to cruel and arbitrary practices by the convoy officers and prison guards. In particular, upon arrival and before departure they often had to spend an hour or so in overcrowded holding areas sitting in squat positions with their hands behind their heads. Guards also often made detainees assume a squat or other unnatural positions when moving somewhere, shouted, insulted, pushed and beat the prisoners, and performed unnecessary and degrading searches. The status of a prisoner in transit not having been sufficiently addressed in law and regulations, the administrative practice was not to provide them with bedding, not to segregate inmates sick with contagious diseases, and deny appropriate medical assistance or any communication with the outside world, including correspondence and visits. 63.     According to the Government, the travel journals containing the particulars of the conditions of the applicant’s transit had been destroyed. However, they asserted that the conditions of the applicant’s transport and detention in transit points had been reasonably adapted to meeting his needs. Prison train carriages were designed to accommodate up to eighty people. They contained large compartments measuring three and a half square metres designed to accommodate twelve people and smaller compartments of two and a half square metres designed to accommodate five people. It was permissible to put sixteen and six people in large and smaller compartments respectively during trips that took less than four hours. All train cars were supplied with artificial ventilation and it was also possible to open a window. Prison vans measured eight square metres inside and were designed to accommodate twenty-two people in three compartments (two larger ones designed for ten passengers each and one small compartment for two passengers). The vans had no windows, but they were equipped with vents and benches for sitting on. 64.     Upon the applicant’s arrival at Torez Colony in September 2006, his medical file was found to be missing. 65.     On 29 September 2006 the applicant’s mother complained to the Sokyriany District Prosecutor’s Office concerning the Sokyriany Colony’s administration’s decision to allow the applicant’s transfer in the summer heat and its failure to include his medical file in his travel documents. 66.     On 1 November 2006 the prosecutor’s office notified the applicant’s mother that according to Sokyriany Colony’s records, the applicant’s medical file had been properly handed over to the convoy officers escorting him out of the colony. II.     RELEVANT DOMESTIC LAW 67.     The relevant provisions of Articles 59 and 63 of the Constitution of Ukraine of 1996 concerning the right to legal assistance and the right not to incriminate oneself can be found in the judgment of 19 February 2009 in the case of Shabelnik v. Ukraine (no.   16404/03, § 25). 68.     The relevant provisions of the Pre-Trial Detention Act of 1993 concerning the conditions of detention of remand prisoners can be found in the Court’s judgment in the case of Tymoshenko v. Ukraine (no.   49872/11, §§   179-180, 30 April 2013). 69.     The relevant provisions of Order no.   192 of the State Department of Ukraine for the Enforcement of Sentences of 20 September 2000 “ On the adoption of regulations concerning the detention and conduct of persons held in custody and convicted persons in the pre-trial detention facilities of the State Department of Ukraine for the Enforcement of Sentences ” (repealed as of 18 March 2013), as worded at the material time, read as follows: 1.3.     Occupancy of pre-trial detention facilities “... 1.3.2. The actual number of detained and convicted persons [held in a facility] may not exceed the number of individual sleeping places in accordance with the health and safety regulations established by applicable law.” 8.2. Catering for persons in custody and convicted persons “...Persons remanded in custody and convicted persons shall be provided with three meals a day and shall take their meals, as a rule, in their cells. ... Catering for detainees during their time in court premises shall be arranged by the administration of the pre-trial detention facility in accordance with the following rules: 8.2.1. where the court proceedings last less than three days, lunch should be replaced with a packed lunch. 8.2.2. where the proceedings last more than three days without a break, three meals per day shall be provided, with lunch being delivered to the court. Where there is a break exceeding one day in the court proceedings, the calculation of the duration of the court proceedings shall restart.” III.     RELEVANT INTERNATIONAL MATERIAL A.     Conditions of detention 70.     The relevant extracts from the Report to the Ukrainian Government on the visit to Ukraine carried out by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) from 9 to 21 October 2005 read as follows: “110. ... the CPT reiterates the comments...namely: ... - all in-cell toilets should be fully partitioned; ...” “ recommendations : the norms fixed by legislation for living space per prisoner to be reviewed as soon as possible, in order to ensure that these are at least 4 m² in all the establishments under the authority of the Department for the Execution of Sentences (SIZOs included) (paragraph 94); ...” B.     Conditions of transportation of detainees 71.     The relevant extracts from the Report of the CPT on a visit to Ukraine from 8 to 24 February 1998 read as follows (original emphasis): “189.     During its visit to the Kyiv SIZO of the Security Service of Ukraine, the delegation also had the opportunity to examine a prison van. This vehicle contained three compartments with benches. The artificial lighting was very poor and the ventilation was non-existent. In addition, one of the compartments was extremely small (0.50m²). According to the staff in charge of the vehicle, this type of van was used only for short journeys within the city. However, the delegation heard allegations from prisoners that vehicles of this kind were sometimes used for longer journeys. The CPT would like to receive a copy of any regulations which might exist concerning the characteristics of vehicles used for transporting prisoners. In addition, it recommends that the Ukrainian authorities check the lighting and ventilation in prison vans, and cease placing prisoners in compartments as small as 0.50m². ” 72.     The 2000 Report also contains the findings of the CPT concerning the conditions in which detainees were being transferred from one place of detention to another (original emphasis): “129.     Concerning road transport of prisoners, the delegation inspected two Internal Affairs Ministry vans in Simferopol SIZO. Each vehicle had collective compartments and an individual compartment. The individual compartments were as small as 0.5 m²; in paragraph 189 of the report on its 1998 visit, the CPT has already recommended that the practice of placing prisoners in compartments of this size cease. Conditions in the vehicle were also similar in other respects to those described in the aforementioned paragraph of the report on the 1998 visit (poor artificial lighting, inadequate ventilation). 130.     Concerning rail transport, the delegation examined the facilities in one of the special carriages used for transporting prisoners. It had compartments measuring 2 and 3.5 m², with folding benches. The authorised capacity in the smaller compartments was six persons for journeys lasting not more than four hours, and four persons for longer journeys. In the larger 3.5 m² compartments, up to sixteen persons could be accommodated for short distances and twelve for long distances. The compartments had some access to natural light; however, ventilation was poor. The toilets for prisoners were in a disgusting state, clogged with excrement, despite the fact that prisoners were due to board a few minutes later for a long journey. There were no arrangements to provide prisoners with food, even over long distances; as for drinking water, only a small container was provided to supply the prisoners throughout the journey. 131.     The manner in which prisoners are transported, particularly by train, is unacceptable, having regard, inter alia, to the material conditions and possible duration of travel. The CPT recommends that conditions of prisoners’ transport in Ukraine be reviewed in the light of the foregoing remarks. As an immediate measure, it recommends that the Ukrainian authorities take steps to: - significantly reduce the maximum number of prisoners per compartment in a railway carriage: 3.5 m² compartments should never contain more than six persons, and 2 m² compartments never more than three persons; - ensure that during rail transport, prisoners are supplied with drinking water and that for long journeys, the necessary arrangements are made for them to be properly fed; - no longer use 0.5 m² compartments in vans for transporting prisoners.” 73.     In its Report to the Ukrainian Government on the visit to Ukraine carried out from 24 November to 6 December 2002 the CPT stated as follows (original emphasis): “142. In its report on the 2000 visit (paragraph 131), the CPT made a number of recommendations concerning the transport of prisoners by road and rail. The matter was raised again in 2002 with the Ukrainian authorities, who stated that a working group had been set up to transfer responsibility for escorting prisoners from the Ministry of Internal Affairs to the Department for the Execution of Sentences. In the light of the critical findings again made by the delegation which carried out the 2002 visit, concerning transport vans, the CPT recommends that the Ukrainian authorities give a high priority to resolving the issue of the conditions under which prisoners are transported, with due regard to the recommendations in paragraph 131 of its report on the 2000 visit. ” THE LAW I.     ALLEGED VIOLATION OF ARTICLE 3 OF THE CONVENTION 74.     The applicant complained that the conditions of his detention in Odessa and Kyiv SIZOs, Sokyriany Colony and in transit therefrom to Torez Colony, including physical, sanitary and healthcare arrangements had been incompatible with human dignity and that the prison and convoy authorities had treated the detainees in inhuman and degrading manner. He referred to Article 3 of the Convention in this respect, which reads as follows: “No one shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.” A.     Admissibility 1.     Complaints relating to medical assistance in Odessa and Kyiv SIZOs 75.     The Government maintained that the complaint concerning the quality of medical assistance available to the applicant in Kyiv SIZO was incompatible ratione personae with the Convention, as the applicant had not previously articulated it in any way. As regards the applicant’s complaint concerning the quality of medical assistance available to him in Odessa SIZO, it was very general. He had failed to indicate any specific occasions when he had asked for and been denied a particular medical treatment necessitated by his state of health. There was likewise no evidence that the applicant’s health had deteriorated during the time in which he had been detained in that facility. On the contrary, according to available records, the applicant’s health had been regularly monitored by the SIZO medical staff. He had also had access to civilian medical practitioners, who had given recommendations for his outpatient treatment. This aspect of the case was therefore manifestly ill-founded. 76.     The applicant contested this view. He maintained that the quality of medical assistance available to him in Odessa SIZO had been insufficient for his medical conditions and that no medical assistance whatsoever had been made available to him in Kyiv SIZO. 77.     The Court reiterates that it is the duty of the State to provide detained persons with the requisite medical assistance (see, for instance, Ukhan v. Ukraine , no.   30628/02, §§ 72-74, 18 December 2008, with further references). In determining whether the authorities have discharged their health-care obligations vis-à-vis a detainee in their charge, the Court’s task is to assess the quality of the medical services provided to the detainee in the light of his state of health and “the practical demands of imprisonment” and to determine whether, in the circumstances of a particular case, the healthcare standard applied was compatible with the human dignity of the detainee (see Kaverzin v. Ukraine, no. 23893/03, §   138, 15 May 2012, with further references). 78.     Turning to the facts of the present case, the Court firstly notes that the applicant complained of a lack of medical assistance for his heart conditions in Kyiv SIZO in his initial submissions before the Court, as well as in his observations in response to those of the Government. This complaint can therefore not be rejected as incompatible ratione personae . 79.     At the same time, the Court considers that the applicant has not complied with the duty to substantiate his complaints concerning the inadequacy of the medical assistance available to him in Odessa and Kyiv SIZOs. In this regard the Court notes that, according to available records, the applicant received some treatment in Odessa SIZO on account of his heart conditions. On several occasions he had consultations with civilian medical specialists, who made a number of recommendations. It is not apparent from the applicant’s submissions either before the Court or before the domestic authorities which, if any, particular course of treatment was necessitated by his medical conditions and was not made available to him in the SIZO (see by contrast Logvinenko v. Ukraine , no. 13448/07, §§   68-69, 14 October 2010 and Barilo v. Ukraine, no.   9607/06, §§   69-71, 16   May 2013). As regards Kyiv SIZO, there is no record whatever of any domestic complaints. In respect of both facilities, the applicant did not show that he had been unreasonably denied a particular medical manipulation needed or requested or that his health had deteriorated during his time in detention in either Odessa or Kyiv SIZO. 80.     Regard being had to the materials on file, the Court considers that the applicant has failed to formulate an arguable claim that the medical assistance available to him in Odessa SIZO or Kyiv SIZO was incompatible with his human dignity within the meaning of Article 3 of the Convention. 81.     This aspect of the case is therefore to be rejected as manifestly ill-founded within the meaning of Article 35   §§   3(a) and 4 of the Convention. 2.     Complaints relating to the applicant’s detention in Sokyriany Colony 82.     The Government submitted that the applicant’s complaints that he had not been provided with appropriate clothing and the other matters related to his detention in the Sokyriany Colony were not verifiable, as no relevant records had been preserved