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Amnesty International Concerns in GEORGIA

August 11, 2004

amnesty international

Concerns in Europe and
Central Asia
January – June 2004

GEORGIA

This country entry has been extracted from a forthcoming Amnesty International report, CONCERNS IN EUROPE AND CENTRAL ASIA: January - June 2004 (AI Index: EUR 01/005/2004) issued in September 2004. Anyone wishing further information on other Amnesty International concerns in Europe and Central Asia should consult the full document.

Torture and ill-treatment in police custody

AI continued to receive reports about torture and ill-treatment in Georgia. In one such case the defendant died in custody.

 For example, according to several non-governmental sources, former Deputy Defence Minister Giorgi Vashakidze and his associates Eldar Gogberashvili and Beniamin Saneblidze, were taken to Saburtalo cemetery following their detention on 10 January and Giorgi Vashakidze’s associates were reportedly beaten in front of him. The three were accused of involvement in the 5 December 2003 kidnapping of Tamaz Maglakelidze, a co-chairman of the supervisory board of the United Bank of Georgia. On the morning of 11 January the men were taken to Tbilisi City police station where Eldar Gogberashvili and Beniamin Saneblidze reportedly continued to be beaten and Beniamin Saneblidze was said to have been given electric shocks to his head and hands. Following their bail hearings on 12 January in Vake-Saburtalo district court, Eldar Gogberashvili and Beniamin Saneblidze were returned to the police station in contravention of domestic law (Article 85 of the Law on Imprisonment) and Eldar Gogberashvili reportedly signed a confession statement following physical and psychological pressure.

 As a result of the ill-treatment, Beniamin Saneblidze was reportedly unable to sit up, he had difficulties breathing, and there were strong indications that his nose and some of his ribs may have been broken. The lawyer who defended Eldar Gogberashvili at the time told AI that he saw abrasions on his hands which, according to his client, were traces from the torture with electric shocks. The lawyer also saw burns that he thought could have been inflicted by a cigarette on his client’s legs. On 10 and 11 January respectively, the lawyers of Eldar Gogberashvili and Beniamin Saneblidze asked for a medical examination of their clients. However, the examinations were reportedly conducted more than two weeks later.

 AI is also concerned about the death in custody of Khvicha Kvirikashvili. Khvicha Kvirikashvili died on 23 May shortly after he had been taken home by police officers following questioning in the police station of Gldani-Nadzaladevi district in Tbilisi. He had been accused of committing a burglary on 22 May. AI learnt that an investigation into the death of Khvicha Kvirikashvili has been opened that – according to a councillor at the Tbilisi City procuracy as reported by Black Sea Press on 25 June – has established that Khvicha Kvirikashvili was beaten in the police station. In June Vake-Saburtalo district court sentenced Mr Minadze, an officer of Gldani-Nadzaladevi district police, to three months’ preliminary detention in connection with Khvicha Kvirikashvili’s death. The investigation was believed to be ongoing at the end of the period under review.

Excessive use of force by police and prison officers

AI was also concerned about the excessive use of force by police in several operations conducted in the period under review. The concern was heightened by statements made by President Mikhail Saakashvili and other senior government officials apparently encouraging the disproportionate use of force by police or prison personnel or endorsing police operations where excessive force had taken place.

 For example, at a news briefing on 12 January broadcast by Imedi TV the President advised the then Justice Minister “to use force when dealing with any attempt to stage prison riots, and to open fire, shoot to kill and destroy any criminal who attempts to cause turmoil. We will not spare bullets against these people.”

 On 11 January police armed with truncheons broke up an unauthorized demonstration of some 200 demonstrators blocking a main road in Terdzhola district in Imereti region applying excessive force. The demonstrators peacefully protested against the recent detention of Zaza Ambroladze, a resident of the region charged with illegal possession of firearms. AI viewed footage showing dozens of people being kicked and beaten by police. One man, for example, who was already on the ground putting up no defence, was kicked by four law enforcement officers. Another man, while being detained, was hit by several police officers with truncheons.

 The following day Imedi TV broadcast a statement by President Mikhail Saakshvili “welcome[ing then Interior Minister] Gia Baramidze’s fighting spirit and his brave steps” in the conduct of the police operation against “a certain group of local hooligans”. He added that “everyone who is defending crime bosses … will be dealt a very hard blow in their teeth.”

 In the course of the police operation conducted by some 100 law enforcement officers early on 12 March, that resulted in the detention of defrocked Georgian Orthodox priest Basil Mkalavishvili and seven of his supporters, excessive force was used by a number of police officers. While AI has long urged that those involved in attacks on religious minorities in Georgia be brought to justice (see below) the organization was seriously concerned about the way in which this police operation was conducted. AI viewed video footage documenting that many of Basil Mkalavishvili’s followers put up violent resistance to the police and the organization does not oppose the reasonable use of force in such circumstances. However, during this operation police beat several people who were not putting up any resistance. For example, Imedi TV footage showed four police officers in helmets hitting one man repeatedly on his head and neck with truncheons while he was holding both his hands around his head to protect himself. Ajaria TV and Imedi TV showed that Avtandil Gabunia was beaten by two masked law enforcement officers in camouflage fatigues or uniform while he was lying on the ground in a defenceless position. Rustavi-2 filmed the hitting of one man in his neck by a masked law enforcement officer and a man in civilian clothes (possibly a police officer in plainclothes).

 AI noted that in all police operations mentioned above many of the officers were masked and no name tags and/or identification numbers were visible. The police officers who were unmasked reportedly did not wear any clearly visible name tags and/or identification numbers either. In addition, in both cases men in civilian clothes who may have been police officers but had no visible sign of identification joined the law enforcement officers in the beatings. Masked special police without clear name tags and/or identification numbers also played a key role in dispersing other demonstrations in recent months.

 An important safeguard against the use of excessive force by law enforcement officials and to help ensure that such officials who act in violation of international standards do not enjoy impunity, is that officers should be clearly identifiable at all times, including while carrying out police operations such as the dispersal of demonstrations as well as the arrest and detention of suspects. This requires, for example, that law enforcement officers should wear clear name tags and/or identification numbers and there should be a clear method of tracking identification numbers, so that police can be identified for the purpose of investigating incidents of abusive use of force or other human rights violations where they may have been involved. Masks or other means of disguising officers' personal identities should only be used exceptionally, if such measures are necessary for the personal protection or security of the officers concerned or similar reasons of necessity; in such cases the need for each officer to be identifiable by such means as a unique traceable identification number is particularly important. 

Religious minorities

AI welcomed the detention on 12 March of Basil Mkalavishvili and seven of his supporters suspected of involvement in a series of attacks on religious minorities while expressing concern about the way in which the police operation was conducted (see above). The eight men were charged with offences including “illegal hindrance of the execution of religious rites or other religious rules and habits” (Article 155 of the Criminal Code). Hundreds of perpetrators of attacks on religious minorities remained unpunished by the end of the period under review.

 AI was concerned about a statement made by the President following the 12 March police operation that was broadcast on Imedi TV: “The Georgian state, not some local extremist who beats and raids people, should protect Georgia from harmful alien influence and extremism”. Such a statement clearly contravenes Article 18 of the ICCPR that was ratified by Georgia in 1994, according to which “[e]veryone shall have the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion” and to “manifest his religion or belief in worship, observance, practice and teaching”.

Attackers of Jehovah’s Witnesses have their sentences reduced on appeal (update to information in AI Index: EUR 01/001/2004)

Following an appeal by the defendants, a court in Tbilisi on 5 April reduced the terms of the suspended sentences that had been handed down on five members of the radical Jvari (Cross) group – Paata Bluashvili, Mamuka Chubabria, Zaal Kevanishvili, Alexander Abzianidze and Besik Tskhovrebadze – by Rustavi city court in November 2003. The sentences of the first three men were reduced from four to two years and the charge of “damage or destruction of property” (Article 187 of the Criminal Code) was dropped; the sentences of the latter two were reduced from two years to one year. On 4 November Rustavi City Court had found the men guilty of involvement in attacks on Jehovah’s Witnesses in what was the first prosecution of perpetrators in connection with a series of attacks on religious minorities over more than four years.

Mechanisms of accountability

On 30 April Justice Minister Giorgi Papuashvili abolished the Independent Council of Public Control of the Penitentiary System, which had been set up on 30 January 2002. Giorgi Papuashvili announced that a new body, the Advisory Public Council of the Ministry of Justice, should be established. AI was concerned that the statute of the Advisory Public Council of the Ministry of Justice did not give any details about the right of access to detention facilities and detainees for members of the Council.

 The Independent Council of Public Control of the Penitentiary System, whose members included representatives of non-governmental organizations, clergymen and public figures, was entitled to “enter the penitentiary department and all its subject establishments during working hours” and “meet with convicts”. In special cases Council members were entitled to the above rights beyond working hours. In addition, it was stipulated that all Council members could “speak to a detainee in the presence of the administration of the pre-trial detention facility provided it is connected with the protection of the inmate’s rights or the prison conditions”.

Extraditions

AI was concerned about a statement made by President Saakashvili in an interview with the Russian radio station Ekho Moskvy on 10 February, in which he stated that “those people who were suspected of the terrorist attacks in Moscow have been extradited … and if anybody remained [in Georgia], give us a list and we’ll find them or if we don’t find them, … come and let’s find them together, and … let’s throw them out of Georgia together”.

 In recent years AI repeatedly raised its concern about the extradition of Chechens, wanted by Russia on “terrorism” charges, with the authorities of Georgia because they were believed to be at risk of serious human rights violations including torture if returned to Russia. As a member of the Council of Europe and a party to treaties such as the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and the 1967 Protocol, the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Georgia has obliged itself to refrain from deportations or extraditions that put people at risk of serious human rights violations.

 Several local human rights activists alleged that the Georgian authorities facilitated the detention of two Chechens – Khusein Alkhanov and Bekhan Mulkoyev – by officers of the Russian Federal Security Service in North Ossetia on 19 February. However, senior government officials categorically denied these allegations. The two men, who had been wanted by Russia on “terrorism” charges, were among 13 men detained by Georgian border guards near the village of Girevi in the Akhmeta district in August 2002. The extradition to Russia of five of the 13 in October 2002 led to an international outcry. In 2003 Georgian courts refused to extradite Khusein Alkhanov and Bekhan Mulkoyev as well as other Chechens detained in August 2002. On 16 September 2003 the European Court of Human Rights declared admissible an application against the extradition of the 13 men to Russia following applications lodged with the court on 4 and 9 October 2002. Tbilisi regional court sentenced Khusein Alkhanov and Bekhan Mulkoyev to one year of imprisonment on 6 February 2004 for resisting prison guards. However, the men were released from the courtroom as they had already served the terms of their sentences. On 16 February local groups reported the two men had “disappeared”, only one week before a delegation from the European Court was due to interview them in Tbilisi.

Arrest of Abashidze supporters on alleged fabricated charges 

In a highly charged case amidst increasing tensions between the central government and the authorities of Ajaria two supporters of Aslan Abashidze, Merab Mikeladze and Lasha Chakhvadze, were detained by police on Saburtalo street in Tbilisi on 24 February. There were strong indications that the two men had beaten up demonstrators in Batumi who protested against Aslan Abashidze. However, when detaining the two in Tbilisi, police charged them with illegal possession of weapons, a charge that AI believed was fabricated. The case became even more controversial in Georgian public debate when the two men left for Batumi on 27 February following a court ruling the same day freeing them under the condition that they not leave Tbilisi. Three officials of Vake-Saburtalo district police in Tbilisi who authorized them to leave Tbilisi on the condition that they return to the capital for further investigation were charged with “negligence” and sentenced to three months’ preliminary detention by Mtatsminda-Krtsanisi district court in Tbilisi on 9 March. Once in Batumi Merab Mikeladze and Lasha Chakhvadze refused to return to Tbilisi for further investigations alleging the investigation was politically motivated. Several non-governmental sources alleged that the release of the two Ajarians and the subsequent detention of the three police officers had been politically motivated and reflected the approaches to the matter of different government authorities in Tbilisi. On 16 March the three police officers were freed by Mtatsminda-Krtsanisi district court but placed under travel restrictions. Shortly after the release of Merab Mikeladze and Lasha Chakhvadze two Kmara! activists who had been detained in Ajaria since 6 January were released by the authorities of Ajaria in what several NGO activists called “a deal” between the authorities of the central government and Ajaria.

Clampdown on dissent under Aslan Abashidze

Following intensified tension between the central government and the authorities of the autonomous republic of Ajaria under Aslan Abashidze since the “Rose Revolution” in November 2003 and a series of public protests against the Abashidze regime in Ajaria, Aslan Abashidze left Batumi, the Ajarian capital, for Moscow on 5 May. The central authorities took control of the region for an interim period and elections were held in the region on 20 June that resulted in an overwhelming victory for the party supporting President Saakashvili.

 AI was seriously concerned about the intensified clampdown on opponents of the regime of Aslan Abashidze in Ajaria following the “Rose Revolution” in November 2003 which included the detention and in some cases alleged ill-treatment of activists critical of Aslan Abashidze and his policies, and ill-treatment and psychological pressure on independent journalists. AI also received numerous reports about the excessive use of force by supporters of Aslan Abashidze against demonstrators critical of the authorities of Ajaria.

 On 21 February Gocha Khvichia and Imeda Tavdgeridze, two members of the youth movement Kmara! (Enough!) that was particularly vocal in criticizing the Ajarian authorities, were allegedly beaten by Ajarian law enforcement officers at the Ajarian Choloki checkpoint some 30 kilometres from Batumi. The two young men and another Kmara! member, Sofiko Pataraya, and her sister, had been taken off a bus travelling from Tbilisi to Batumi after the officers had found Kmara! leaflets in their bags. All four were locked into a house near the checkpoint. Reportedly, the two young women were forced to watch how the two men were beaten and kicked by some 20 men, some of whom were masked. They were threatened not to make contact with journalists or human rights organizations. The four were released later that day.

 In another case, early on 5 March journalist Vakhtang Komakhidze from the Tbilisi office of the TV station Rustavi-2 was severely beaten and kicked by several men who were believed to have acted on instructions of the authorities of the autonomous republic. He and Mziya Amaglobeli from the independent Ajarian newspaper Batumelebi were working on a program highly critical of the authorities of Ajaria. The two were stopped near the town of Khelvachauri in Ajaria by traffic police. Suddenly several men, some of them reportedly masked, approached their car, pulled Vakhtang Komakhidze out of the car and allegedly beat and kicked him until he lost consciousness. When he opened his eyes again he saw that one of the men was taking away his mobile phone and then Vakhtang Komakhidze was again kicked in his face. In the meantime several men were preventing Mziya Amaglobeli from leaving the car and searched the car, removing camera equipment, tapes and money. Vakhtang Komakhidze had to be hospitalized for several days with concussion and haemorrhage.

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