Gjini v. Serbia  | 2019

New measures to prevent and monitor prison violence after innocent man’s rape ordeal

...the Court finds that the prison authorities failed to notice or react to any of the signs of violence...

Judgment of the European Court of Human Rights, April 2019

Background 

Serbian police arrested Fabian Gjini in 2008 on suspicion of using a fake banknote. Tests later showed that the banknote he used was in fact genuine.

Fabian spent 31 days in jail. He was placed in a cell with four other inmates. The cell had no proper bed, and Fabian was forced to sleep on the floor.

His traumatic ordeal began immediately. Fabian’s cellmates decided to humiliate him. They forced him to mop the floor again and again, periodically kicking and slapping him. The inmates made Fabian stand in cold water all night. He was not allowed to move. Sores and open wounds appeared on his feet. Fabian’s cellmates threatened to kill him if he told the prison authorities about the abuse.

According to Fabian, the cellmates later drugged and raped him. Afterwards, they shaved his head and eyebrows to mark him out as a rape victim. Fabian claimed that the prison guards were aware of what was happening to him but did nothing to stop it.

After his release, Fabian complained to the authorities about his ill-treatment. The Serbian courts ultimately found that he had suffered during his detention and awarded him €2,350 in compensation.

Fabian, who experienced post-traumatic stress because of his prison ordeal, did not think that justice had been done.

Judgment of the European Court of Human Rights

The European court found that the Serbian prison authorities had failed to detect, prevent or monitor the violence against Fabian. The state also failed to investigate, or launch a prosecution over, his complaints. This violated Fabian’s rights.

The court awarded Fabian €25,000 in compensation.

...the prison staff . . . must have noticed that [Fabian’s] eyebrows had been shaved, that he had a strange haircut, and that his skin had been damaged.

Judgment of the European Court of Human Rights, April 2019

Follow-up 

By the time of the European court’s judgment in Fabian’s case, Serbia had taken tough measures to prevent and monitor violence in places of detention.

Following the adoption of a national strategy in 2013, a new law was introduced to better regulate the procedure for carrying out criminal sanctions such as prison sentences. The new law aims to improve infrastructure and security in prisons and safeguard the human rights of detainees.

Under the new rules, prison staff can be fired if they fail to report violations of an institution’s house rules, including prisoner violence.

Medical personnel must keep special records of injuries sustained by detainees and notify prison officials of any sign that violence has been inflicted. Detainees can also directly lodge complaints about prison violence to a judge.

Themes:

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