CASE OF DIMITROV AND RIBOV v. BULGARIA
Violation of Article 3 - Prohibition of torture (Article 3 - Degrading treatment;Inhuman treatment) (Substantive aspect);Violation of Article 13 - Right to an effective remedy (Article 13 - Effective remedy)
George Nicolaou;Guido Raimondi;Krzysztof Wojtyczek;Ledi Bianku;Nona Tsotsoria;Paul Mahoney;Yonko Grozev
5. The applicants were born in 1974 and 1979 respectively and are serving whole life sentences in Burgas Prison. 6. The facts of the case can be summarised as follows. 7. In November 2001 both applicants were arrested on suspicion of murder and were remanded in custody. In September 2002 they were transferred to Burgas Prison. In December 2004 the trial court, Burgas Regional Court, found them guilty of murder resulting from terrorist activity and sentenced them to whole life imprisonment, to be served initially under the “special regime”. In April 2006 the appellate court, Burgas Court of Appeal, upheld that sentence which was further upheld by the Supreme Court of Cassation in a final judgment of 16 January 2008. 8. The applicants have been serving their sentences under the “special regime” in Burgas Prison, in permanently locked individual cells measuring 1.5 by 3 metres, under heightened security supervision. Both applicants have been allowed out of their cells for between one and two hours a day to take exercise in the open, which they have been spending walking in the prison courtyard. 9. The parties diverge in respect of the material conditions in which the applicants have been kept. 10. According to the applicants, the daylight in the cells has been scant and a light bulb attached to the ceiling has been on 24 hours a day. There is so little unencumbered space in the cell that the applicants are forced to spend most of the day either lying or sitting on their beds. There are no toilets in their cells and, since the beginning of 2008, the prison authorities have allowed them to use the common sanitary facilities three times a day. The rest of the time they use a bucket to satisfy their physiological needs. Hygiene is rather poor: the prison premises, including the canteen and kitchen, are infested with cockroaches and rats. The food is of inadequate quality and insufficient quantity. The medical service in the prison lacks even the most basic medical supplies. Mr Dimitrov caught psoriasis in prison and because of the absence of adequate treatment his condition has deteriorated into psoriatic arthritis. 11. According to the Government, the applicants’ cells are equipped with toilets and the light is sufficient for them to read and write. In addition, the prison premises are cleaned every day and a thorough cleaning is carried out weekly by a specially designated individual. The authorities employ the services of an external company which regularly cleans and disinfects all prison areas. The prison director supervises the quality and quantity of the food offered to the inmates who receive meat dishes six times a week and a vegetarian dish once a week. The prisoners have access to a bathroom with hot running water six times a day. Sometimes they spend up to two hours a day in the open. They can visit the prison library, the prison chapel, as well as take part in – unspecified – group activities. Mr Ribov has tended to participate in them happily, while Mr Dimitrov has refused to do so without giving any reason for that.