Human Rights Center Demands Investigation into So-Called Prison Riot of 2006

Human Rights Center appeals to chief prosecutor of Georgia Archil Kbilashvili with the request to start investigation into the so-called prison riot of March 26, 2006 in Oartachala Prison at the prosecutor’s office.

That time government used brutal methods to subdue so-called riot in prison. Several prisoners (different numbers were published) were shot. Despite that, it is not yet investigated whether excessive force was used or not and most important is that – nobody tried to found out what compelled prisoners to rebel. Consequently, that time senior officials of the penitentiary system were not held responsible for the accident.

Prisoners remember that bloody night very well. Some of them recalled those facts with the lawyers of Human Rights Center. They are ready to make testimonies with the new investigation. We are below publishing an explanation letter of a prisoner. At this stage, HRC refrains from publishing the name of the author and other prisoners who are mentioned in it. However, in case of necessity we are ready to provide investigative bodies with detailed information.

Prosecutor’s office should pay attention to the story about particularly large amount of heroine – 3 kg that is was withdrawn as a result of search and is mentioned in the letter below. The author wrote that ethnic Azerbaijan prisoner, who was judged for the import of narcotics, complained about disappearance of one kg heroine from his case materials. Other sources told HRC that 2 kg of heroine also disappeared; part of it was distributed among Ortachala prison inmates. A prisoner arrested under this case also learned about this fact who was trying to find out fate of the narcotics with the support of foreign lawyer. Prisoners doubt that real motive of the prison riot was to liquidate the inmate convicted for the import of 3 kg heroine and other inmates were also killed as a result.

Explanation letter of the convicted from Rustavi Prison # 6 to Mr. Ucha Nanuashvili, Director of Human Rights Center

In the evening of March 26, 2006, a friend of mine called me at about 10:00 pm and said fire-brigade and patrol police cars were standing at prison. He wondered what was going on. I got surprised because it was calm in prison and told him everything was ok in the facility. About 2 hours later, somebody started shouting from jail hospital: prison people, help us, they are killing us. This shouting lasted 30 minutes. Although it was calm in prison before, all of us rushed to windows and started banging on the doors; 5 minutes later 4 jeeps left jail hospital and drove towards prison facility. We, prisoners were shouting – “You sadists, do not kill people!” At the same time, doors of every cell opened. We started calling relatives and organizations from phones to inform them about the situation… we heard gunshots from the outside; entire territory was full of riot-police officers. I personally saw Giga Bokeria standing in the yard.

Many prisoners were wounded by incoming bullets. An ethnic Ossetian prisoner was standing next to me; we called him Zuba and he was killed by the bullet shot from the yard. It lasted two hours and then riot police entered the custody. They were directly shooting from automatic guns although all of us returned to the cells when they entered. Third facility opened the door and let riot police enter; but, they killed prisoners there. I was in the fifth facility. We also returned to cells and opened doors.

In that turmoil, an Azerbaijan prisoner turned up in my cell; I do not remember his name. He told me that 3 kg of heroine was withdrawn from the Custom Checkpoint in the Red Bridge but only 2 kg of it was left in the case materials; one kg had disappeared. He had already told this story before and was trying to find out where it had gone. That prisoner got in my cell during riot and when situation calmed down, he was taken back to his cell. He did not complain about health then but soon I learned that he died.

Three days later I was taken to Prison # 6 where Bacho Akhalaia’s deputy Butskhrikidze and head of security service Merabishvili physically assaulted me. They ordered us to take off cloths; we were compelled to kneel down several times when they were beating us. Then they took us to cells and asked to stand on our knees that I could not do. I was so ruthlessly beaten that fell down as soon as I entered the cell. After abuse I suffered from acute headaches and pain in kidney; I also had my eyesight worsened.

Some time later, I was taken initially to Rustavi Prison # 2 then to Ksani Prison where director Robert Arakelov ordered me to stand on the knees that I did not do. He was holding plastic pipe and ruthlessly beat me with it; as a result I had my teeth broken. Robert Arakelov permanently cursed and degraded me.

There is horrible corruption in Ksani prison. There were about 2 200 inmates in it. Robert Arakelov used to personally sell cell phones to us for 500 lari each. Then he was arresting prisoners for having cell phones and added imprisonment years to us. There were two shops in the facility that was not enough. Prisoners in alliance with Arakelov used to take products from the shop and sold them to other inmates at tripled price; they shared the profit with Arakelov.

My friend and I protested these violations for what prisoners were compelled to blame us in the membership of criminal mafia and added 11 years to my imprisonment term.