Press Release
Council of Europe anti-torture Committee publishes report on
Georgia
Strasbourg, 25.10.2007 – The Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention
of Torture (CPT) has today published a report on its third periodic visit to
Georgia, which took place in March/April 2007. The report has been made public
at the request of the Georgian authorities.
In the course of the visit, the CPT’s delegation gained the impression that the
situation as regards the treatment of people detained by the police in Georgia
had considerably improved. Only a few isolated allegations of physical
ill-treatment were heard, all but one of which referred to the excessive use of
force at the time of apprehension. The CPT has welcomed the progress made in
this area by the Georgian authorities, which is the result of a series of
measures taken in recent years, including a new approach to the selection and
training of police staff and a reinforcement of internal control and external
monitoring mechanisms. At the same time, it is clear that the authorities must
remain vigilant. The CPT has made several recommendations aimed in particular at
strengthening the formal safeguards against ill-treatment and improving the
screening for injuries.
In the area of prisons, one particularly welcome outcome of the on-going reform
of the penitentiary system is the clampdown on corruption. However, the steep
increase in the prison population, which has more than doubled since the CPT’s
previous periodic visit in 2004, and the ensuing prison overcrowding undermine
the efforts made to create a humane penitentiary system. The most extraordinary
overcrowding was observed at the main pre-trial facility, Prison No. 5 in
Tbilisi, where living space per prisoner was frequently below 0.5 m˛. The CPT
has called upon the Georgian authorities to redouble their efforts to combat
prison overcrowding, in particular by adopting policies designed to limit or
modulate the number of people sent to prison.
No allegations of recent physical ill-treatment of prisoners by staff were heard
at four of the five penitentiary establishments visited. However, at Prison No.
6 in Rustavi, the delegation received numerous and consistent allegations of
prisoners being beaten upon admission as well as in other contexts. The CPT has
recommended that the management of that prison deliver to custodial staff the
clear message that physical ill-treatment and verbal abuse of inmates, as well
as other forms of disrespectful or provocative behaviour, are not acceptable and
will be dealt with severely.
The provision of health care to prisoners remains problematic, due to the
shortage of staff, facilities and resources. The CPT is particularly concerned
that the progress observed during the second periodic visit in the area of
combating tuberculosis is jeopardised by the steep increase in the prison
population.
No allegations of ill-treatment were received at the two psychiatric
institutions visited, Asatiani Psychiatric Institute in Tbilisi and Kutiri
Psychiatric Hospital. However, both establishments suffered from overcrowding,
though patients’ living conditions were generally better at Kutiri. The report
also includes an assessment of the legal safeguards applicable to involuntary
psychiatric patients under the new Law on Psychiatric Care.
Following an immediate observation made by the CPT’s delegation at the end of
the visit, the Georgian authorities have closed down the “Hauptvacht” (military
detention facility) in Tbilisi, which provided totally inadequate conditions of
detention.
The CPT’s report is available in English on the CPT’s website:
http://www.cpt.coe.int
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