Allegations of ill-treatment and violation of the right to a fair trial, inadmissible due to 14 year delay in submission of the complaint

Facts

The author is a national of the Russian Federation who claims that the arrest, detention, detention conditions, failure to enjoy a presumption of innocence, and procedural deficiencies in his trial consitute violations of his rights under articles 7; 9, 10(1), 14(3)(b)(d), and 14(5) of the Covenant by the state party.

In January 2000 the author was arrested after being attacked my three armed persons. They were dressed in civilian clothes and did not identify them nor inform the author of the reasons for his arrest. The author was taken to a police station where he was beaten with bottles filled with water, and later taken to a centralised facility where he was interrogated without the presence of a lawyer. He was held for two days and further interrogated without the presence of a lawyer, before being moved to a detention facility with inhuman conditions. 

Later, the author was tried and found guilty of murder and robbery and sentenced to 24 years imprisonment. All subsequent appeals to higher authorities were declined.

Admissibility

The Committee noted that the communication was recieved by the Committee 14 years after the the trial, and 8 years after the supervisory review appeal board rejected the authors application. Further, the Committee notes there is nothing in the submission that would restrict the author from contacting the outside world from prison, and further notes that on this basis, such a time delay must render the communication inadmissible under article 3 of the Optional Protocol.