Police Officers Unpunished in Georgia for Torturing and Killing Citizens

Gela Mtivlishvili, Kakheti

Underage T.G, legally a minor, was pushed down on the ground during detention and four police officers went about beating and kicking for ten minutes over his body and facial area. After the interrogation the minor detainee was then compelled to confess his participation in several recent robberies.

After the detainee refused to admit to any crimes the police officer proceeded to wrap electricity wires on his legs and threatened to switch on the electricity. In the meantime the victim was beaten by the police. It is only natural that under such pressure the minor felt no choice but to admit to the crime and the confession was under torture. The same result was found with Aleksi Bakhutov, and in this case police had placed an airtight plastic bag over his head at the Nafareuli division of the Telavi Department of Ministry of Internal Affairs. He was also beaten with truncheons until Bakhutov had no option but to plead guilty and accept criminal responsibility for the murder of the person who is still alive. Despite the request of the Georgian Public Defender those police officers still have not charged with the crime of having tortured citizens.

The crime of torture is prohibited by both international law and acting Georgian legislation. However, as Sozar Subari, the Georgian Public Defender, states it still remains a serious problem in today’s society.

“Besides other factors involved, another problem is the lack of consistency and order in Georgian legislation. More precisely, Article 17 of the Georgian Constitution, that prohibits torture, was absolute and did not envisage any restriction during emergency rule or times of war. As for Article 18, it indicates that “everyone arrested or otherwise restricted in his/her liberty should not be imposed with physical or psychic harassment.” It is possible to enact such restriction during rule of emergency and war situation that contradicted with the principles of international law of human rights.

The Public Defender states, “In my report of 2004 I recommended to the Georgian Parliament to introduce amendments to the Georgian Constitution and eradicate the possibility of torturing a person during rule of emergency or war situation as well. It is notable, that the parliament accepted my recommendation and on December 27 2006 they introduced amendments to the Constitution.

-Mr. Sozar, you mentioned that torture still remains a serious problem in Georgia. Does the state try to implement some preventive measures against torture?”

-According to the June 20 2007 decree of the Georgian President established Coordinating Council of Institutions for the Activities against Torture or Some Other Inhuman, Cruel or Degrading Treatment and Punishment. The council was set up of the representatives of governmental institutions, international and non-governmental organizations, as well as representative of the Public Defender. Nevertheless, the council has not started working because of war situation that faced the country. However, I hope the council will start actively working because a lot must be done in this direction.

-As far as I know. The Public Defender’s Office has been monitoring the penitentiary establishments since 2005. It must be noted that cells of pre-trial detention isolators and departments were especially monitored. Then you have paid attention to the penitentiary system and finally to every establishments. Why motivated you to monitor them?

-Our monitoring started after we observed that all detainees, without any exceptions, were abused by police officers. It was well-established rule, habit of police officers and such habits have been turned into a tradition. In addition, extortion of testimony was one of the main methods of police officers’ in their line of work. Various methods of torture were used: shock by electricity, putting mask or plastic bags on the head, hanging a detainee by hands or legs, etc. There have been many cases where those who were tortured people died. However, such deaths continue to remain unresolved.

-What was the result of your monitoring?

-Intensive monitoring had a serious result. Previously, harassment, torture was traditional form of treating inmates at police department and isolators of temporary detention.  In fact, such cases rarely occur nowadays. The violence changed its location and it now happens in the street. Police officers beat person during the detention process and after that they recorded in the detention report that the detainee has resisted arrest.

-You demanded the Prosecutor General’s Office to react to such incidents several times already. You sent corresponding materials to them. It is interesting, have they launched investigation on those incidents?

-We observe how the investigation on those cases is going on at the prosecutor’s office. The materials provided by the prosecutor’s office and Interior Ministry demonstrate several tendencies that can be assessed as basis for the attitude of investigation bodies towards the cases of harassment, torture and degrading or inhuman treatment. In some cases, the prosecutor’s office was superficial about the incidents. The investigation has formal character and in most cases it ends with dropping the case on the ground of lack of evidences against the police officers. Complete and impartial investigations were not carried out on most cases investigated by the Public Defender; thus the truth was not found out. Very often, the injuries on the body are not assessed; forensic expertise is not provided on particular case. But, if the expertise is carried out, illogical and unreasonable versions are created by the investigation group in order to explain the origin of injuries on the body of the detainee.

The accusation against police officers is annihilated based on the testimonies made by police officers. As a rule, detainee changes its initial testimony in favor of the abuser police officer that demonstrates how unprotected those people are. Prosecutor’s Office does its best to protect law enforcers. Poor professionalism of the police officers is demonstrated by the fact that their activity does not aim to avoid the charge but tries to burden the charge of the detainee.

Inadequate and ineffective investigation of the facts of torture creates serious problem of impunity syndrome in the country.