Succinct summary of the events from September to November 2012 Penitentiary Establishments of Georgia
This report reflects the findings, identified as a result of monitoring undertaken by the Special Preventive Group of the Public Defender in the Penitentiary Establishments of Georgia during September-November, 2012.
Thanks to considerable support from the EU, since 2009 the Department of Prevention and Monitoring of the Public Defender of Georgia has been monitoring the penitentiary establishments operating in Georgia within the framework of the National Preventive Mechanism. The monitoring results have been reflected in the parliamentary and special reports presented by the Public Defender of Georgia (PD).
The Special Preventive Group undertook its last planned monitoring mission in summer 2012 and revealed number of problematic issues, including systemic ill-treatment of convicts, that was permanently pointed out by the Special Preventive Group throughout the past years. Unfortunately, the Georgian Government did not take any relevant and adequate measures to eradicate the outlined problems. Furthermore, the complete negligence of the systemic violations revealed by the Public Defender has turned into a common practice. As a result we have been witnessing the situation – where the syndrome of non-punishment, violation of prisoners’ rights, subjecting them to physical and psychological pressure have become a normal routine.
The above mentioned was also confirmed by the so called “prison video footages” broadcasted by the mass media sources on 18 September, 2012. The videos exposed the facts of beating, humiliation and inhuman treatment of inmates in prisons. In response to these events, the Special Preventive Group of the Public Defender launched a special monitoring at the penitentiary establishments of Georgia.
