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Every Fourth Detainee Beaten

January 14, 2011

Lela Khechosvhili

Kakheti Information Center

The detainees in Kakheti Pre Trial Detention cells are often observed to have physical injuries, - reads the special report of National Preventive Mechanism of Torture of Public Defender of Georgia. According to the Ombudsman, the detainees mostly get physical injuries before being put in the Pre Trial Detention cell. According to the report, the physical assault is carried out against them by the police chiefs themselves.

“In all the pre trial detention cells there is a wrong practice established according to which if the detainee himself does not submit complaint to the law-enforcement bodies, the Office of Prosecutor will not be informed on the injuries,” – notes the Public Defender Giorgi Tughushi.

According to the report, none of the Pre Trial Detention Cells of kakheti Office indicated on the physical damages of the detainees. Besides, the Public Defender notes that in Kakheti Region there are a lot of facts of bodily bruises and breast damages. Kakheti region also has a high number of hospitalized people detained by the ambulance brigade.

According to the Ombudsman, non-efficient investigation of improper treatment hinders the eradication of torture that creates syndrome of impunity in law-enforcement officials and a risk that similar actions will reoccur.

“Because of this European Court numerous times explained, inter alia, in the decisions ruled against Georgia that the non-effective, protracted and inadequate investigation of torture already constitutes the violation of procedural request of article 3 of European Convention whether there are sufficient arguments and evidence presented for confirming the fact of torture,” – states Tughushi.

The report notes that the latest information obtained by the Office of Public Defender and the analysis of different materials and facts makes it clear that the Office of Prosecutor is mostly superficial towards the matter of investigation of torture and improper treatment and similar cases.

Giorgi Tughushi: “Mostly the Office of Prosecutor does not qualify such facts as torture or inhuman or degrading treatment but the abuse of work authority or beating. The investigation on these kinds of cases almost always has a formal nature and often ends with the stopping of the case or protracting the investigation. Most importantly, the investigation on these kinds of cases ceases based on the testimonies of the officials of law-enforcement bodies themselves and in some cases, the victim declines the explanation given to the Public Defender and testifies for the law-enforcement official. Sometimes, the forensic-medical expert examination is appointed in several weeks after the occurred. The Public Defender gives example the fact of beating that occurred in Telavi police:

“On April 16 of 2010, the officials of Prevention and Monitoring Department met with the juvenile prisoner Malkhaz M placed in #5 Common and Prison Regime department for Women and Juveniles of Penitentiary Department. He was observed to have different kinds of body injuries. According to the explanation of the juvenile, he was detained on April 6 of 2010 in Telavi for shoplifting. He noted that the police officers beat him after bringing him to the police department. They were demanding him to confess the fact of lifting the bike. The head of the police threatened to kill him if he resounded this fact,” – states Tughushi.

Hence, on April 19th of 2010, Public Defender sent this case to the Chief Prosecutor of Georgia. According to the response of the Office of Prosecutor, on April 16 of 2010, the preliminary investigation opened up in the Investigative Department of Kakheti Office of Prosecutor concerning the crime envisaged by the first part of article 332 of Criminal Code.

On July 6th of 2010 the Public Defender requested the information on this criminal case from the Main Office of Prosecutor. They responded that the investigation is underway. According to the information double checked by us the investigation is still continuing on this case.

According to the lawyer Lia Khuroshvili from the Human Rights Center, in order to eradicate the improper treatment in the police, certain steps have been taken since the Rose Revolution. However the number of facts of improper treatment and the risk has increased in the recent period. The lawyer recalls the fact occurred in Kvareli Police not too long ago. According to her, the head of police Temur Gurashvili and his assistants locked mother of five children Tamar Ghelaghutashvili in the building of police agency for almost 6 hours and pressured her with threats of physical assault and rape so she would confess the uncommitted crime.

The investigation started in Gurjaani District Prosecutor’s Office on the corresponding. However the Kakheti Regional Prosectur’s Office dropped the complaint. The investigation has been underway on the corresponding case for 5 months now. The Office of Prosecutor has not raised anyone’s responsibility.

The Public Defender gave recommendation to the main Office of Prosecutor to ensure the efficiency and timeliness of investigations carried on the physical assaults occurred while or after the detainment, also to appoint the forensic-medical expert examination timely and obligatorily on each fact. The Office of Prosecutor does not share the Ombudsman’s recommendation.

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