Prison, At Prison, in Prison (part III)

We got in touch with the administration of the penitentiary system to find out the reason for such unbearable conditions in the prison. After several attempts, Salome Makharashvili, the chief of the Public Relations Service Department, commented on the situation with us. Her comment is the following.

Journalist: Let us speak about the schedule. What time must the door open to receive parcels?

Salome Makharashvili: Parcels are received from 10:00AM until 5:00PM except Sunday. Thus, door is always open during this period of time.

Journalist: I visited the Tbilisi prison # 5 yesterday to write a report and the door was closed for several hours. It opened at approximately 4:00PM.

S.M. No, as far as I know the door must always be open; however, the door’s opening depends on the number of people in the line. After some people enter the doorway, then it is closed; later the second group of people goes in.

J: Who is responsible for the time of opening the door?

S.M. You do not understand. A lot people would gather inside the building if all of them were allowed in altogether. So, officials from the prison keep a group of people outside for some time.  I have not heard that the door is closed during the day time. My office is close to it and I see the people standing in a line every day and they enter the door.

J: I witnessed the situation yesterday.

S.M. Was the door closed?

J: Of course.

S.M. Which door was closed? It might have been the outer door. Maybe, the hall was crowded inside and they closed it. In another case, there might have been too crowded.

J: I am wondering about another issue. The hall is too messy. Why is there such a situation inside?

S.M. Why is there such a situation in the city? Though there are a lot of bins, people put their rubbish on the street.
 
J: I do not mean the rubbish. I mean the mess inside. There are neither windows, nor chairs there; the smell is terrible and the conditions are inhuman there.

S.M. It is just like in the streets. Unfortunately, we are Georgians and it is our habit. As for the repairs in prison #5, we are going to have a new building next year.  I should also point out that the visitors behave the most terribly. There is a bin near the door. However, they put the rubbish on the ground.

We got in touch with the Public Defender’s Office to comment on the situation, as well.  Nearly all Public Defender’s reports highlight the problems in the prison. However, there are no results, yet. Giga Giorgadze, the Deputy Public Defender, said that similar situations are in Tbilisi Prison #7, Rustavi Prison # 6 and Zugdidi Detention Setting.

Giga Giorgadze: “These are places with a lot of problems in them. People often appeal us regarding the problems in prisons. They have to stand in lines the whole day and people do not keep their places. Very often they do not keep the order of the list; in short, there is great disorder and terrible things are happening. This problem must be regulated and administration is responsible for the issue. For example, a hundred people can be received a day and these regulations must be obeyed. Many people arrive there from the regions and they mostly do not have anywhere to go at night. It is too difficult for them to take their heavy bags back to their villages and come to Tbilisi the next day.

Some people called us from the Rustavi Prison # 6 and urged for help. Those people were from Kutaisi, Batumi, Surami and many other regions of Georgia. They did not have anywhere to go. Unfortunately, this problem is never paid proper attention.

Two more receiving windows could have been added in Tbilisi Prison #5 in order to reduce the number of lines there. It was the Public Defender’s Office proposal to the administration; however, they did not do it.

As for the mess, it is obvious that there are inhuman conditions in the prison. Everybody knows that the Prison #5 should not function at all. Prisoners live in inhuman conditions there. We have highlighted the problem in both our annual report and the report to the parliament. We have submitted a set of recommendations to the penitentiary department too. We also informed those international and non-governmental organizations who work on human rights issues. Unfortunately, there are no results, yet.”

The law on Prisoners envisages the rights of a prisoner and his/her relative.

Article 33 of the aforementioned law deals with the living conditions of the condemned. According to it:
1. Cell for the condemned in the detention setting must meet technical and hygienic standards. It should guarantee the health conditions for the condemned.  
2. The living space for each prisoner must not be less than 2 sq. m. in detention setting. In isolation it must be 2. 5sq. m. In the women’s setting the space must not be less that 3 sq. m. and in the juvenile’s setting it must be 3.5 sq. m. As for the jail hospital, the space must not be less that 3 sq. m.”

Article 34 deals with the personal hygiene of the prisoner. According to it:
   
1. Prisoner must be able to satisfy his natural, physiological demands and maintain his hygiene without degrading his personal dignity.”
2. The prisoner should be given linen and hairdresser’s service at least once a week…”

Article 26: The prisoner has the right to receive parcels and packages under the control of the administrative board.

Article 35 states that the administration is obliged to supply the prisoners with seasonal clothes without degrading their dignity. The prisoner should have a personal bed and clean, intact linen. The time of exchanging linen should meet the demands of hygiene.

Article 36 of the same law deals with the nutrition of the prisoner. According to it, “Nutrition regulation must meet the traditions of the local population and it must include the necessary components for the person’s health. The prisoner must not be punished by reducing the calories in his food.”

As for the number of dead prisoners in 2006, it reached 92. Twenty of whom died of tuberculosis. Three prisoners died in the last ten days, two of whom were in the jail hospital.

It must also be pointed out that the number of dead prisoners has increased in the last six years. Statistics show that thirty-one prisoners died in 2001, thirty-nine died in 2002, fifty-two in 2003, forty-three in 2004, and forty-six in 2005.

Eka Gulua