5.  The applicant was born in 1977 (in some of the documents submitted his year of birth was also stated as 1979). He used to live in Grozny, Chechnya, but is currently serving a life prison sentence at an unspecified location.
6.  The facts of the case, as submitted by the parties, may be summarised as follows.
7.  On 14 April 2001 the interim prosecutor of Grozny opened criminal case no. 11133 against the applicant. On 14 September 2001 the applicant was charged, in absentia, with aggravated murder. On 31 December 2001 he left Chechnya under a false identity and in January 2002 he arrived in Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan.
8.  On 13 January 2006 the applicant was arrested in Semipalatinsk. On 17 January 2006 the local authorities established his true identity and the Semipalatinsk town prosecutor’s office extended the applicant’s detention with a view to extraditing him. On an unspecified date in January or February 2006 the Russian authorities officially requested the applicant’s extradition to Russia. On 23 February 2006 the applicant was taken to Astana airport and handed over to Russian law-enforcement officers.
9.  On 23 February 2006 the applicant was taken by Russian police officers from Astana to Moscow. Upon his arrival at Domodedovo airport in Moscow, he was filmed by a journalist of the RTR (Russian Public Television) company and a report about his extradition was televised on the same date in the nationwide news programme, Vesti. On the footage, the applicant showed no signs of ill-treatment. His relatives learned about his arrest and extradition from the news report.
10.  On the same date, 23 February 2006, the applicant was taken to remand prison IZ-77/4 in Moscow. Upon arrival he was examined by a doctor, who found no evidence of ill-treatment.
11.  On the same date, the applicant was handed over from prison IZ‑77/4 to Chechen investigators and police officers for transfer to Grozny, Chechnya.
12.  According to the applicant, he was placed in a vehicle with two Chechen police officers, Mr Kh. Mag. and Mr L.-A. Mud., who repeatedly punched and kicked him on the way to the airport.
13.  At the airport the officers were joined by an investigator from Chechnya, Mr P. The applicant bore signs of ill-treatment: his face was swollen, he was covered in blood and he could not eat or drink.
(b)  The applicant’s ill-treatment on the journey from Vladikavkaz to Grozny
14.  Upon arrival at the airport in Vladikavkaz, Republic of North Ossetia‑Alania, the applicant was taken in a Gazel minibus to Grozny.
15.  According to the applicant, the commander of the Police Special Task Unit (Отдел милиции особого назначения (ОМОН)) (“the OMON”) police group ordered him to lie on the floor of the minibus, and the police officers kicked him and beat him with their rifle butts.
(c)  The applicant’s ill-treatment in the ORB-2
16.  Late in the evening of 23 February 2006 the applicant arrived at the police station known as Operational Search Bureau no. 2 (hereinafter “the ORB‑2”) in Grozny, where he was detained until 6 March 2006.
17.  According to the Government’s submission to the Court, upon his arrival at the ORB-2 in the evening of 23 February 2006 the applicant underwent a medical examination, which established that he had haematomas around his right eye and an abrasion on his back. According to the Government, the applicant explained to the doctor that he had obtained those injuries in Kazakhstan.
18.  According to the applicant’s submission to the Court, on the same evening, 23 February 2006, he was taken to a large room on the ground floor of the ORB-2 premises, where he was subjected to beatings by five police officers, namely the head of the ORB‑2’s operational search division; Mr Ib., the operational search officer; Mr As. Vak., the head of the department specialising in the investigation of aggravated robberies; and two other police officers from the station.
19.  The officers questioned the applicant about, among other things, the murder of a prosecutor perpetrated in 2001. They punched and kicked him, demanding that he confess to killing that prosecutor and give statements against certain persons whom he knew personally. The applicant refused. The officers then tortured the applicant with electric shocks and beat him about the head with plastic bottles filled with water. Every time he lost consciousness, the officers poured water on him and continued the interrogation and torture.
20.  According to the applicant, throughout the night of 23-24 February 2006 and during the day on 24 February 2006 he was tortured and pressured to admit his involvement in a number of serious crimes. The applicant refused to do so.
21.  On 25 February 2006 the applicant was told that his aunt, Ms Kh. Tas., had arrived with a food package for him. The officers detained her, questioned her about the applicant and threatened her. One of the officers then told the applicant that if he wanted nothing to happen to his aunt, he would have to sign confessions. The applicant signed the documents without familiarising himself with their contents.
22.  According to the applicant’s submission, between 26 and 28 February 2006 he was regularly ill‑treated at night; he was bludgeoned, tortured with electric shocks, and a gas mask was put over his head to induce suffocation. He was forced to memorise statements concerning his forced confession to the commission of the crimes in question along with details of those crimes and of crimes in which he had allegedly participated.
23.  According to the applicant, on 6 March 2006 he was transferred to remand prison no. 20/1 (“SIZO 20/1”) in Grozny. Between March and December 2006 he was sometimes returned to the ORB-2 premises for questioning and was subjected to further beatings, electrocutions and other forms of ill-treatment. The officers threatened to kill him if he complained to anyone of the ill‑treatment. He again had to memorise the details regarding the crimes allegedly perpetrated by him; the police officers instructed him regarding places, methods and other details concerning the crimes he was accused of perpetrating. From the middle of March the police officers primarily used electric shocks to torture him in order to avoid leaving bruises and haematomas on his body. In the applicant’s submission, the police officer who was most active in torturing him and pressurising him to confess was Mr As. Vak. from the ORB-2.
24.  On 30 April and 2 May, and again on 5 and 6 September 2006, the applicant was interviewed in SIZO 20/1 by an official from, apparently, the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture. The applicant described to that official the torture to which he had been subjected on the SIZO 20/1 premises.
25.  On the night of 24 to 25 May 2006, after the applicant’s complaints of ill-treatment (see paragraphs 31-32 below), he was subjected to severe beatings: a plastic bag was put over his head and he was hit in the head with metal keys and kicked. The officers threatened to kill the applicant if he continued to complain of being ill-treated.
26.  On 1 June 2006 the applicant underwent a medical examination in SIZO 20/1, which established the following:
“... on his left upper shoulder there are circular purple bruises, both internal and external, measuring 2-3 cm. On his right hip there is a large circular purple haematoma measuring 6 cm and an abrasion measuring 3 cm ...”
27.  On 20 October 2007 and again on 29 October 2007 the administrative authorities at remand prison IZ-77/4 in Moscow replied to a request for information by the applicant’s representatives stating that at the time of his arrival at their remand prison on 23 February 2006 the applicant had not borne any traces of ill-treatment.
28.  In support of his allegations, the applicant furnished the Court with statements by witnesses who had also been detained in the ORB-2 at the material time. Those witnesses were: Mr Sh. El. (a statement dated 12 September 2009); Mr U. Cha. (an undated statement); Mr R. Le. (a statement dated 13 September 2007); and Mr M. Ga. (a statement dated 12 September 2007). The applicant also submitted two official statements by the administrative authorities of remand prison IZ-77/4 in Moscow, dated 20 and 29 October 2007 respectively.
(d)  Investigation into the alleged ill-treatment
(i)  The applicant’s complaint to the supervising prosecutors
29.  On 1 March 2006 the applicant was examined by a medical expert at the Chechen Republic Bureau of Forensic Expert Evaluations. According to the applicant, out of fear for his life he had to tell the expert that he had sustained the haematomas as a result of several falls on 23 February 2006 while he had been in Kazakhstan. The expert’s conclusions of 9 March 2006 were as follows:
“... [the applicant] stated that he had not been subjected to beatings. His facial trauma was a result of several falls that occurred during his arrest by the local police officers in Kazakhstan. He does not complain about the state of his health. Observations: under the right eye and on the right eyelid there is a crimson and green bruise, yellow along the eye, of about 3 cm by 1.5 cm. Other injuries or traces of trauma were not identified ...
Conclusions: the bruise on Mr A. Mukayev’s right eye is the result of this part of his head [coming into contact] with a blunt object; possible date of occurrence – 23 February 2006, in the circumstances described by him. The injury does not [fall under the category of] harm ...”
30.  On 6 March 2006 the applicant was transferred to SIZO 20/1 in Grozny, where he was examined by a doctor who made the following notes in his medical record:
“... complaints of headaches; healing haematoma on the upper-right shoulder; fresh scar on the back of the knee measuring 2 cm; haemorrhage in the right eye; abrasion on the back of the head ... handcuff marks on both wrists ...”
31.  On 11 May 2006 the applicant complained to the Chechnya prosecutor’s office of having been ill-treated in Moscow and in the ORB‑2, stating that the police officers had tortured him to make him confess to crimes he had not committed.
32.  On 15 May 2006 the applicant complained of the ill-treatment to the Prosecutor General’s office.
33.  On 25 May 2006 an investigator from the Chechnya prosecutor’s office refused to institute criminal proceedings against the police officers. The applicant was not provided with a copy of that decision.
34.  On 6 September the Chechnya deputy prosecutor overruled the decision of 25 May 2006 and returned the case to the investigators for further inquiries. The four police officers allegedly implicated in the ill‑treatment were questioned and gave statements to the effect that they had not ill-treated the applicant. On 15 September 2006, upon completion of the inquiry, the investigator, V.A., refused to open a criminal case against the officers. His report contained the following remarks:
“... according to the record of the initial medical examination carried out by the IVS [temporary detention centre] of the ORB-2, the examinations conducted on 7 March, 17 March, 29 March, 10 April, 24 May, 13 June and 11 July 2006 did not reveal any bodily injuries ...
Thus, no evidence was obtained as a result of the inquiry ... the allegations of A. Mukayev ... were not confirmed”.
The applicant was not provided with a copy of this decision.
35.  On 10 October 2006 the decision of 15 September 2006 not to open a criminal case against the officers was overruled by the supervisory prosecutor and the complaint was returned to the investigators for further inquiries. On 20 October 2006 the investigator, Mr I.Kh. of the Chechnya prosecutor’s office, questioned the officers who had brought the applicant from Moscow to Grozny and the investigator in charge of the criminal case against the applicant. Mr I.Kh. refused to investigate the applicant’s allegations of ill-treatment, stating, inter alia:
“... according to the record of the initial medical examination carried out by the IVS of the ORB-2, the examinations conducted on 7 March, 17 March, 29 March, 10 April, 24 May, 13 June and 11 July 2006 did not reveal any bodily injuries ...
According to the documents received from SIZO 20/1 dated 14 March 2006 and 5 June 2006 concerning bodily injuries allegedly sustained by A. Mukayev, the Leninskiy district prosecutor’s office refused to institute criminal proceedings.
For instance, when questioned about his bodily injuries – such as the haematoma covering one-third of the right shoulder, a bruise under his right eye, scratches on the back of his head and handcuff marks on both wrists, all of which were found when he was transferred to SIZ0 20/1 on 1 June 2006 – A. Mukayev explained that these injuries had been sustained by him on the way to SIZO 20/1 and on the way back to the IVS. He stated that the guards had not used physical force against him ...
When questioned about the origins of the injuries, including the haemorrhage of the upper-right arm and the haematoma on his left hip found on [the applicant] when he was brought to SIZO 20/1 on 1 June 2006, A. Mukayev explained that he had been taken for interrogation. By the exit [to the facility] he had been beaten on the buttocks and shoulder, but he did not know who had hit him. The escort guards had behaved normally towards him ...”
The applicant was not provided with a copy of this decision.
36.  On 23 November 2007 the investigator’s refusal of 20 October 2006 was overruled by the supervisory prosecutor and the case was forwarded to the Leninskiy District Investigative Committee for further inquiries. On 9 December 2007 the investigator of the Leninskiy District Investigative Committee refused to institute criminal proceedings against the police officers on the ground of lack of corpus delicti. The applicant was not provided with a copy of that decision.
37.  On 27 December 2007 the applicant’s lawyers appealed to the supervisory prosecutor against the investigators’ decisions in respect of the applicant’s complaint of ill‑treatment and requested that the prosecutor recognise as unlawful the following:
“(a) the delays in the verification of A. Mukayev’s complaints concerning the unlawful actions of the law-enforcement officers against him;
(b) the investigator’s refusal to question important witnesses who could have confirmed the use of violence against A. Mukayev;
(c) the investigator’s refusal to question A. Mukayev.”
38.  On 17 January 2008 the investigator’s refusal of 9 December 2007 to initiate a criminal investigation was overruled by the supervisory prosecutor, and the applicant’s complaints of ill-treatment were sent back to the investigators for further inquiries. The applicant was informed of that decision on 24 January 2008.
(ii)  The applicant’s judicial appeals against the prosecutor’s refusals to investigate allegations of ill-treatment
39.  On an unspecified date in June 2007 the applicant’s lawyer complained to the Zavodskoy District Court of Grozny (“the Zavodskoy District Court”), stating, among other things:
“... During the inquiry into the complaints of A. Mukayev, a forensic medical examination was conducted on 9 March 2006 ...
However, this examination was incomplete, as on 6 March 2006 when A. Mukayev had been taken to SIZO 1 (remand prison no. 1) in Grozny, the following injuries had been noted [in the medical record]:
- headaches;
- a healing haematoma on the right shoulder;
- a scar on the back of the knee measuring 2 cm;
- a haemorrhage in the right eye;
- an abrasion on the back of the head;
- handcuff marks on both wrists.
All of the above objectively confirms that physical force was used against A. Mukayev ... In addition, [the policemen] used threats and intimidation to force A. Mukayev to state that he had not been subjected to beatings and that his facial trauma had been caused on 23 February 2006 during the arrest by law-enforcement officers in Kazakhstan.
The use of torture against A. Mukayev is confirmed by his allegedly voluntary confession to having committed serious crimes ...
Before his arrest, A. Mukayev was a healthy man. However, after his arrest he started to have health problems ... In spite of consistent allegations [of torture] in the complaint lodged by A. Mukayev, the investigator refused to open a criminal case ...
On the basis of the above, it is requested that the court:
Order the Chechnya prosecutor’s office to furnish [the applicant with] the materials gathered by the inquiry which resulted in the refusal to institute criminal proceedings on the basis of the complaints of A. Mukayev, as he was neither provided with a copy of this decision nor familiarised with the contents of the file;
Recognise as unlawful the failure of the prosecutor’s office to investigate substantiated allegations of torture; and
Order the Chechnya prosecutor’s office to conduct a thorough, objective and effective investigation into the applicant’s torture, and to prosecute the culprits ...”
40.  On 26 September 2007 the applicant’s lawyer lodged an additional complaint with the Zavodskoy District Court.
41.  On 3 October 2007 the Zavodskoy District Court upheld the complaint in full and recognised as unlawful the refusal to institute criminal proceedings. The decision, which was not appealed against and became final, stated, among other things, the following:
“On 1 March 2006 a forensic medical expert ... examined A. Mukayev. ... [A]ccording to his report, he found ‘... under the right eye and on the right eyelid ... a crimson and green bruise, yellow along the eye, about 3 cm by 1.5 cm ...’
It follows that, between his extradition to Russia on 23 February 2006 and 1 March 2006, A. Mukayev was subjected to physical violence.
On 6 March 2006, when he arrived at SIZO 20/1 in Grozny, Mukayev was examined by a doctor, who made the following notes in Mukayev’s medical record: ‘... complaints of headaches; healing haematoma in the upper right shoulder; fresh scar on the back of the knee measuring 2 cm; haemorrhage in the right eye; abrasion on the back of the head ... handcuff marks on both wrists ...’
Consequently, assuming that the examination conducted on 1 March 2006 was full and thorough, A. Mukayev was subjected to further physical violence between 1 and 6 March 2006. This is confirmed by the documents.
On 10 April 2006 the following note was made in Mukayev’s medical record: ‘[N]umbness of the right side [the next part of the sentence is illegible]. [B]eaten [according to A. Mukayev] in the head during the journey from Moscow ...’
On 10 May 2006 in SIZO 20/1 the following note was made in Mukayev’s medical record: ‘[C]omplaints of numbness in the right side of his face; lacrimation of the right eye; sharp pains in the right side of the face, the ear and the gums.’
On 1 June 2006 in SIZO 20/1, the following note was made in Mukayev’s medical record: ‘[O]n the upper left shoulder there are round purple bruises, both internal and external, measuring 2-3 cm. On the right hip – a large round purple haematoma measuring 6 cm and a straight, 3‑cm‑long abrasion ...’
It follows that Mukayev was subjected to torture between 10 May and 1 June 2006. This is confirmed by the documents.
The inmates who were detained in the IVS of the ORB-2 at the same time as A. Mukayev also confirm the use of violence against him. ... [A]ll these [three] persons confirmed that they were prepared to give statements to the prosecutors if necessary.
42.  On an unspecified date between December 2007 and February 2008 the applicant lodged an appeal with the Zavodskoy District Court against the decision of 9 December 2007 by the investigator of the Leninskiy District Investigative Committee not to institute criminal proceedings against the police officers (see paragraph 38 above).
43.  On 19 March 2008 the Zavodskoy District Court dismissed the applicant’s appeal, stating that the impugned refusal to institute criminal proceedings of 9 December 2007 had just been overruled on the same date (that is to say 19 March 2008) by the head of the Leninskiy District Investigative Committee.
44.  On 29 March 2008 the investigator of the Leninskiy District Investigative Committee again ruled against instituting criminal proceedings against the police officers. The applicant again lodged an appeal against that decision with the Leninskiy District Court of Grozny (“the Leninskiy District Court”).
45.  On 26 June 2008 the Leninskiy District Court dismissed the applicant’s appeal as unsubstantiated, stating that:
“... the facts of the alleged violations of the criminal procedure regulations [by the impugned police officers] were not confirmed by the numerous inquiries. A. Mukayev was found guilty as charged ...”
46.  The applicant lodged an appeal against that decision with the Chechnya Supreme Court. On 6 August 2008 the latter upheld the decision of the Leninskiy District Court, stating that:
“... in [citing] the overruling of the decision in refusing to open a criminal investigation within the framework of a criminal case which has been resolved by a sentence, [the applicant’s representative] is in fact proposing that the court examine and evaluate evidence that has already been examined and evaluated by the Chechnya Supreme Court and the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation. Those courts have already delivered decisions which are now binding; such a situation is not provided for by the current legislation ...”
47.  The documents submitted to the Court show that the applicant had raised, consistently and in detail, complaints of ill-treatment during the proceedings before the Chechnya Supreme Court and in an appeal against his sentence that he lodged with the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation (see below).
48. According to the Government, between May 2006 and March 2008 the domestic authorities on six occasions carried out a preliminary inquiry into the applicant’s ill-treatment complaint before each time refusing to open a criminal case. The inquiries carried out showed that the applicant’s allegations “were not confirmed by objective data”.
49.  According to the applicant, between 23 and 26 February 2006, while he was being questioned and tortured, he had had no access to a lawyer. The investigator had not explained to him his right to legal counsel, nor that anything he said during questioning might be used as evidence in the criminal proceedings against him.
50.  On 26 February 2006 the investigator appointed Mr G. Ber. as the applicant’s lawyer. Rather than requesting a lawyer from the Bar Association, as prescribed by law, the investigator appointed Mr G. Ber. directly. The applicant agreed to that lawyer’s services on 2 March 2006 only on the insistence of the investigator in charge of the criminal case against him, and only after he had already been questioned and charged with a number of crimes.
51.  On 28 February 2006 the applicant’s relatives retained Mr B. El. as his lawyer, but the investigators did not allow him access to the applicant. Meanwhile, G. Ber. acted as the applicant’s lawyer. According to the applicant, G. Ber. had been present during the applicant’s questioning; the lawyer had known that the applicant was being subjected to ill-treatment, but had failed to raise the issue before the authorities. The lawyer had signed the procedural document post facto, as requested by the investigators.
52.  The applicant furnished the Court with a letter from the head of the Chechnya Bar Association of 14 December 2007, which read as follows:
“... the investigator [in charge of the criminal case against the applicant] did not request the Nisam Bar Association to assign lawyer G. Ber. as legal counsel for A. Mukayev.
... under the law, a lawyer must obtain the approval of the head of the Bar Association for him to represent a client in criminal proceedings. However, Mr G. Ber. failed to do that; ... his retainer agreement to represent A. Mukayev was filled out by Mr G. Ber. unlawfully.
On the basis of the complaints received by the Bar Association against the lawyer G. Ber., including those from A. Mukayev, on 30 November 2007 G. Ber. was disbarred...”
53.  The applicant’s lawyer, Mr B.El., was allowed to meet with the applicant for the first time in the middle of March 2006.
54.  The applicant unsuccessfully raised a complaint regarding the flaws in the legal aid before the trial court and on appeal. His complaints were dismissed as unsubstantiated.
55.  During the trial the applicant was represented by his lawyer, Mr B.El. The applicant retracted his confession and claimed that he had made self‑incriminating statements under torture. He complained to the trial judge that during his arrest and detention at the ORB-2, he had been repeatedly tortured and threatened, and had finally been forced to confess. He pleaded not guilty in respect of the murders and admitted his guilt only in respect of the unlawful acquisition of a gun and of being in possession of false identity documents.
56.  On 22 May 2007 the Chechnya Supreme Court found the applicant guilty of, among other things, the murder of twelve people, and sentenced him to life imprisonment. Its ruling was based on the applicant’s confession, statements made by witnesses and victims to the investigator and the court, and ballistic expert reports concluding that one of the victims had been shot with the gun found on the applicant.
57.  In respect of the applicant’s allegations of torture, the trial court stated that there were
“... no grounds for distrusting the statement given by the operational search officer Mr As.Vak. or for casting doubt on the results of the inquiries conducted by the prosecutor’s office [into the applicant’s allegation]”.
58.  On 30 October 2007 the sentence was upheld on appeal by the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation. In respect of the applicant’s allegations of ill-treatment, the court stated that
“... the fact that unlawful methods of investigation were used against the applicant was not confirmed”.