The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) delivered a judgment in the case of Politun and Others v. Ukraine, which consolidated 14 applications concerning inadequate conditions of detention in Ukrainian penitentiary facilities. The Court found violations of Articles 3 (prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment) and 13 (right to an effective remedy) of the European Convention on Human Rights.The decision addresses complaints from multiple applicants who were detained in various Ukrainian detention facilities between 2006 and 2024. While the personal space allocated to detainees (more than 4 sq. m) met minimum standards, the Court found numerous other deficiencies in detention conditions, including poor air quality, inadequate temperature control, insufficient natural light, lack of proper hygiene facilities, and poor food quality.The Court’s main findings include:
- Even when personal space requirements are met, other aspects of physical detention conditions remain crucial for assessment under Article 3
- The Ukrainian government failed to provide adequate evidence to refute the applicants’ complaints about poor detention conditions
- The combined effect of poor conditions and prolonged confinement (up to 23 hours per day) constituted a violation of Article 3
- Applicants lacked an effective remedy for their complaints about detention conditions
The Court awarded compensation ranging from 1,100 to 7,500 euros to individual applicants, depending on the duration and severity of their detention conditions. The judgment follows the precedents set in previous cases against Ukraine (Melnik v. Ukraine and Sukachov v. Ukraine) regarding detention conditions.
