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Women prisoners complain about humiliation while they are searched and ask for conjugal visits

June 25, 2015
 Natia Gogolasvhili

Head of Correctional Department, Gogi Gakharia talked with Human Rights Center about those problems, that have been revealed during the monitoring process of N5 correctional facility for women. According to Gogi Gakharia, to eliminate existing problems, several important changes are being planned for N5 correctional facility for women. The issue is related to visits, search and usage of phones and television. 

 Nonexistence of conjugal visits in N5 prison, places women prisoners in discriminatory condition. For many years, the reason of forbidding this type of visits was the risk of possible pregnancy of women prisoners, which would lead to additional expenses for the government. Despite of this, according to Gogi Gakharia, they plan to establish conjugal visits for women. 

“There are problems regarding the budget. Establishing the conjugal visits will lead to many pregnancies. That’s why we have to build facility for mothers and children and set up the infrastructure,” – says Gogi Gakharia. 

According to the executive director of Human Rights Center Aleko tskitishvili, the argument of Correctional Department that the infrastructure is not ready for conjugal visits should be considered, but their position in general is still unclear. Thing is that, women prisoners not only have no possibility for conjugal visits, but also they are not able to have longer visits with their parents or children. 

“Some of the prisoners do not have spouse, but they wish to have longer visits with their family members. Why are their rights limited? The Government must eliminate this problem as soon as possible, because nowadays, women prisoners are discriminated because of their gender,” says Aleko Tskitishvili. 

According to 2014 Parliamentary report of Public Defender, it is important to take all necessary measures for establishing proper conditions for women prisoners to have their right to conjugal visits. In 2013, the Public Defender addressed the Minister of Corrections and Legal Assistance, with the recommendations regarding this matter in his Parliamentary report, but the recommendations still have not been fulfilled. 

According to the UN rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non-custodial Measures for Women Offenders, so called Bangkok rule article 27, where conjugal visits are allowed, women prisoners shall be able to exercise this right on an equal basis with men. Since, according to Imprisonment Code, male prisoners are allowed to use 24-hour conjugal visits, while female prisoners use only 3-hour family visits, established terms of the Imprisonment Code contradict the international standards of “Bangkok Rules”. This also contradicts the spirit of UN Convention Eliminating all Forms of Discrimination against Women. According to article 124 of Imprisonment Code, in order to implement right to conjugal visits, the Ministry of Corrections and Legal Assistance has to provide necessary conditions and right for conjugal visits in women prisons and closed penitentiary facilities,”- the Public Defender’s report 2014. 

Majority of women prisoners say, that a telephone in N5 prison does not work properly, which causes problems of communications for prisoners. They are allowed to make three phone calls, but because of existing flaw, the phone may cancel these calls. Accordingly, they are not able to use their right to have phone calls with relatives. According to Gogi Gakharia, it is being planned that a new phone company enters the territory of prison, which will improve the quality of service. 

Women prisoners also talk about lack of TV channels. According to them, ethnic minorities, often do not have ability to watch programs on language that they understand,”- says Gogi Gakharia. 

From June 17, Georgia moves on digital broadcasting system, which requires appropriate technical set up. As a head of Department of Corrections says, according to the information of technical group, there will be no problems and everything is going to be set up technologically. 

Co-director of Human Rights Center, Nino Tsagareishvili speaks about other issues that have occurred during the monitoring: “Majority of women who talked to us, mentioned that they do not get enough sanitary pads from the administration, which is an important issue, because instead of sanitary pads they have to use other non-hygienic pads, that lead to complications. Another important issue is a search procedure of women prisoners. According to the prisoners, when placing them in jail, they are fully examined, which includes denudation and doing squats, which morally damages them.”

One of the prisoners of prison N5, Nana Parchukishvili, who is a lawyer by profession, fights against the established rights of searching in prison: “ I have repeatedly written about this issue to the Public Defender, the Minister of Corrections, Human Rights Committee of the Parliament. As I understood, the administration of the facility has its own interpretation of the Minister’s order. There is a term “full examination” in the order, which according to them, necessarily means full denudation and squats that are degrading. Imagine that you are doing squats, fully naked, in front of five women! It is understandable that prisoners might bring in or take out forbidden things with their body, but there are detectors for this! Full examination shall only take place if the detector makes a sound. But they make prisoners to get naked without using the detector.” 

Chair of Human Rights and Civil Integration Committee answers the statement of the prisoner Nana Parchukashvili: “we inform you that the Parliament adopted the bill presented as a legal initiative from Georgia about “Changes in Imprisonment Code”, which will enter into force as soon as published. In this bill, there is no record about so-called full examination of prisoners while they are brought in/taken out from/to prisons/penitentiary facilities and, more importantly, about placing prisoners in conditions that degrade their honor and dignity.”

Eka Beselia wrote this answer to nana Parchukashvili on May 5 2014. The director of N5 prison had written to the prisoner that there are no facts of humiliation while the full examination of the prisoners. 

According to the recommendation of the Public Defender, the Ministry of Corrections and Legal Assistance has to take all necessary measures in order to provide the examination of prisoners, while entering the prison, without humiliating them. 

“The most important issue is the procedure of entrance in N5 prison, because the prisoners have to be fully naked. In addition, they ask them to do squats, which humiliate them. It is worth mentioning that this kind of examination is conducted even when the prisoner leaves or comes back to the prison. There are cases, when prisoners refuse to get medical treatment outside the prison or go out to courts, because of this procedure,”- stated in the 2014 report of the Public Defender. 

The women prisoners are also dissatisfied with the low quality of drinking water. According to Gogi Gakharia, laboratory results of water are satisfying and it is good to drink.

Nino Tsagareishvili also points out positive tendencies: “according to women prisoners, after the replacement of managers of the penitentiary administration in 2012, there are no more facts of beating in women prison, or special treatment for some of the prisoners. It is also worth mentioning that women prisoners can participate in cultural events. Also there is a highly equipped library in the prison, which provides variety of literature with the appropriate inventory and technology. 

This article was published within the frameworks of the project Monitoring State of Women and Juvenile Prisoners in Georgia which is implemented by Human Rights Center in partnership with Office of Public Defender of Georgia, by the financial support of Embassy of Bulgaria.
The article does not necessarily reflect the views of the donor. Human Rights Center bears sole responsibility for the content of the report.


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