RUDYAK v. UKRAINE JUDGMENT
9
4 December 1995, § 32, Series A no. 336, and Avşar v. Turkey, no.
25657/94, § 283, ECHR 2001-VII (extracts)).
54. The Court reiterates its jurisprudence confirming that the standard of
proof applied in its assessment of evidence is that of “beyond reasonable
doubt” (see Avşar, cited above, § 282). Such proof may follow from the
coexistence of sufficiently strong, clear and concordant inferences or of
similar unrebutted presumptions of fact.
55. In the present case, the applicant submitted medical evidence
recording that, one day after his arrest on 19 April 2005, he had suffered
various head and body injuries (see paragraphs 10, 13 and 14 above). The
Court notes that such injuries are sufficiently serious to amount to illtreatment within the meaning of Article 3. It remains to be considered
whether the State authorities should be held responsible under Article 3 for
the infliction of those injuries.
56. The Court reiterates that where an individual is taken into police
custody in good health but is found to be injured at the time of release, it is
incumbent on the State to provide a plausible explanation of the cause of the
injury, failing which a clear issue arises under Article 3 of the Convention
(see Tomasi v. France, 27 August 1992, §§ 108-111, Series A no. 241-A,
and Ribitsch, cited above, § 34).
57. In the present case, there is no evidence as to the applicant’s
condition at the time of his arrest. There is also no alternative explanation of
the origin of the applicant’s injuries.
58. The Court further notes that no medical examination of the applicant
was performed upon his arrival at the police station. The Court reiterates in
this respect that a medical examination, together with the right of access to a
lawyer and the right to inform a third party of one’s detention, constitute
fundamental safeguards against the ill-treatment of detained persons which
should apply as from the very outset of deprivation of liberty, regardless of
how it may be described under the legal system concerned (apprehension,
arrest, and so forth) (see the 2nd General Report of the European Committee
for the Prevention of Torture, CPT/Inf/E (2002) 1 - Rev. 2006, § 36, and
Korobov v. Ukraine, no. 39598/03, § 70, 21 July 2011). This would not only
ensure the applicant’s rights are respected but would also enable the
respondent Government to discharge their burden of providing a plausible
explanation for those injuries. The absence of such a medical examination in
the present case was even more disturbing, given that the applicant was
arrested when no criminal proceedings were apparently pending against him
and that he allegedly refused to have a lawyer present, while the applicant
submitted that he had been beaten because he had requested the presence of
a lawyer.
59. Given the seriousness of the applicant’s injuries and the absence of
any other explanations as to their origin, the Court concludes that the
applicant was subjected to inhuman treatment by State agents. There has