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Recommendations

To the Government of Georgia

Implement the recommendations of the United Nations Committee Against Torture detailed in its Conclusions and Recommendations of May 10, 2006.
Implement the recommendations of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment detailed in its report to the Georgian government following its visits of November 18-28, 2003, and May 7-14, 2004.
Immediately make public the Georgian government’s October 2005 reply to the CPT on its report following its visits of November 18-28, 2003, and May 7-14, 2004.
Implement the recommendations of the United Nations special rapporteur on torture, issued in his September 2005 report, published following a country visit to Georgia in May 2005.
Actively implement the European Prison Rules, as updated by the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers Recommendation (2006) 2 of January 11, 2006.
The most senior figures in government, including President Saakashvili, Minister of Interior Vano Merabishvili, and Minister of Justice Gia Kavtaradze, should publicly announce a policy of zero tolerance for torture and ill-treatment by law enforcement agents.
Allow for the formation of an independent investigation body to examine allegations of excessive force during the March 27 incident in Tbilisi Prison No. 5. The investigation must have the independence and powers to require cooperation from all agencies involved and to examine whether the operation was planned to minimize use of lethal and other excessive physical force.
Enact legislation that requires all law enforcement agents, including members of the special forces and prison guards, to wear identification, and provide all law enforcement agents with uniforms that include appropriate identification.
Ensure that appropriate records are kept that allow the prompt identification of personnel who are on duty in prisons and who take part in particular interrogations, investigations, or security operations.
Ensure that the new Penitentiary Code, to be submitted to parliament in November 2006, provides pre-trial detainees with the right to regular visits with family members and close friends, in an effort to promote contact with the outside world as required by international standards. Abolish any requirement of permission from an investigator, prosecutor, or judge for such visits.
Ensure that the new Penitentiary Code guarantees prisoners regular family visits, including extended visits, in accordance with the guiding principle of promoting contact with the outside world; the number of family visits should be based on individualized treatment, rather than on the basis of regime. Restrictions should be only those strictly required on security grounds.
Ensure that the new Penitentiary Code allows for pre-trial detainees to engage in work, education, and other purposeful activities.
Ensure that the new Penitentiary Code guarantees detainees the right to submit confidential complaints and ensure that all prison administration officials are aware of this right and do not interfere with it.
Ensure that the building of new prisons does not detract from addressing immediate needs of the prison population.
Enact changes to the Criminal Procedure Code to provide for a range of alternatives to detention. Ensure that the General Prosecutor’s Office uses pre-trial detention as the exception rather than the norm. Pre-trial detention should only be justified on clear grounds relating to security and the administration of justice.
Enact specific legislation regarding the use of force in prisons that complies with the standards set forth in the UN Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms; train all Penitentiary Department, Ministry of Justice, and Ministry of Interior law enforcement agents on the use of force in prisons.
Give serious consideration to recommendations provided by the Council of Europe, other international experts, and domestic NGOs and experts regarding changes to the Penitentiary Code, the Criminal Code, the Criminal Procedure Code, the Law on Probation, and other relevant laws.
Publicly support regular access for NGOs and the Office of the Ombudsman to monitor prison conditions and the treatment of prisoners.
Ensure that adequate resources are provided to the Ministry of Labor, Health, and Social Affairs to guarantee that the transfer of responsibility for medical care from the Ministry of Justice in September 2006 does not negatively impact on detainees’ access to health care.
Support the budget of the Ministry of Justice and the Penitentiary Department to implement the specific recommendations outlined below.

To the General Prosecutor’s Office

Open an investigation into the deaths of seven inmates as a result of the use of force by special forces troops in Prison No. 5 on March 27, 2006, as required by article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
Open an investigation into the death of Malkhaz Sirginava on December 24, 2005, as a result of the use of force by special forces troops in Kutaisi Prison No. 2, as required by article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
Open an investigation into allegations of ill-treatment in Kutaisi Prison No. 2 in December 2005 and subsequent months, and in Tbilisi Prison No. 7, as required by article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
Remove all non-violent offenders from pre-trial detention and ensure effective and accessible non-custodial alternatives for defendants awaiting trial; pre-trial release should only be denied based on an individual assessment of factors such as flight risk, interference with the administration of justice, or other defined threat to public order or security. All pre-trial detention must be for as short a period as possible and subject to regular review.
Remove all children from pre-trial detention and ensure that juveniles are only subject to pre-trial detention as an absolute last resort.

To the Ministry of Justice

Clarify the requirements set forth in Minister of Justice Order No. 620 regarding complaint mechanisms for detainees, to ensure that detainees are able to send confidential complaints to state bodies and other organizations.
Ensure effective coordination between the Penitentiary Department and the Probation Department to ensure the regular release of prisoners on parole.

Monitoring of the penitentiary system

Ensure that a national monitoring mechanism is established that meets the requirements set forth in the Optional Protocol to the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (OPCAT).
Ensure that monitoring commissions are established at all 16 penitentiary establishments.
Ensure a transparent process with clear, identifiable criteria for the selection of monitors for the national monitoring mechanism, as well as for the individual monitoring commissions being established for each penitentiary facility.
Guarantee all monitors the right to access any facility of the Penitentiary Department without warning at any time and the right to private meetings with detainees.
Readily and consistently take into consideration the recommendations provided by the monitoring mechanisms.
Respond, in writing, within a reasonable time period, to the reports provided by the monitoring mechanisms.

To the Ministry of Justice and the Penitentiary Department

Intake of detainees

Ensure that detainees are informed of their rights and obligations in writing and that they are allowed to keep a copy of that document.
Establish a uniform procedure and documents for the intake of detainees to be used in all penitentiary facilities.
Ensure that all penitentiary facilities document incoming detainees’ injuries and respond appropriately to all suspected incidents of abuse.
Ensure that all penitentiary system facilities have computers connected to a centralized computer system and establish a centralized database of detainees.
Strictly separate pre-trial detainees and sentenced prisoners.

Overcrowding

Ensure that the number of persons confined in a facility does not exceed the official capacity.
Undertake, together with international and local experts, a comprehensive review of the capacity of the penitentiary system, to establish capacity figures that reflect international standards for space, light, and ventilation.
Transfer prisoners from overcrowded facilities to less crowded facilities, while keeping in mind factors such as proximity to lawyers, family, and courts.
Provide every detainee with a bed of his or her own, without exception.

Access to legal counsel

Guarantee detainees the right to meet and correspond confidentially with their lawyers; no guard or other official should be present within hearing distance during a detainee’s meeting with his or her lawyer.

Visits with family and close friends

Ensure that detainees are guaranteed the full number of visits by family members and close friends allowed by law.
Ensure that detainees are able to communicate with their family members by providing them with paper and writing implements and refraining from interfe ring with the transmission of correspondence.
Ensure that the cost of mailing prisoners’ correspondence with family and friends is borne by the Penitentiary Department, at least until the time when prisoners are able to earn money through work programs.

Access to exercise

Immediately lift the ban on exercise imposed on detainees in Prison No. 7.
Ensure that all detainees, including pre-trial detainees, are guaranteed at least one hour of exercise outdoors every day, weather permitting; such access should not be restricted, including as a form of punishment.

Food and nutrition

Guarantee that each detainee receives sufficient water and adequate nutritional and caloric intake by the prison administration.
Until such food can be provided by the prison administration, allow detainees to receive a variety of non-perishable food items in packages.

Hygiene

Provide all detainees with basic items of hygiene, including soap, toothbrushes, toothpaste, combs, safety razors, and other items; never withhold these items as punishment.
Allow detainees to shower at least once per week.
Provide all detained persons, including detainees in punishment or isolation cells, with a clean mattress, bed linens, and a blanket.

Access to information

Provide detainees, including pre-trial detainees, with regular access to information through newspapers, and, when possible, through radio or television.

Purposeful activities

Make reform and social adaptation of prisoners an essential aim of detention.
Provide detainees, including pre-trial detainees, with meaningful activities, including work or education.
Ensure that women are guaranteed equal access to employment activities and educational opportunities and are not restricted to activities deemed “appropriate for women.”
Immediately implement a program of education for children held in pre-trial detention.

Complaint mechanism

Ensure detainees are able to send confidential complaints to state bodies and other organizations by providing them with paper and writing implements and refraining from interfering with the transmission of correspondence.

In Tbilisi Prison No. 5

Cease immediately the use of the basement quarantine cells in Tbilisi Prison No. 5.
Remove immediately the shutters on the windows of Tbilisi Prison No. 5 so as to ensure prisoner access to natural light and fresh air.

Staff

Undertake recruitment of new penitentiary staff to ensure adequate staffing in all facilities, including security staff, social workers, doctors, psychologists, etc.
To this end, increase salary of penitentiary facility employees to at least that of other law enforcement officers with similar duties.
Ensure that all existing and new staff undergo training as soon as possible, and at the very least by January 2008, as per the requirements set forth by the Ministry of Justice.
Ensure that all training for prison guards, including initial training and professional development training, includes human rights education.

To the Ministry of Labor, Health, and Social Affairs and the Penitentiary Department

Ensure adequate care for all detainees.
Grant, without exception, a request by any detainee to see a doctor.
Ensure that detainees who suffer from serious illnesses are placed in specialized medical facilities.
Ensure that all detainees who suffer from mental illnesses receive necessary treatment.
Convicted persons who are seriously ill, in the final stages of terminal illness, or have diseases that require consistent and high-level treatment must be adequately monitored in detention. As conditions of detention risk exposing such vulnerable persons to inhuman and degrading situations, imprisonment should be used strictly as a last resort; efforts should be made to release such persons who are currently detained and alternative sanctions should be imposed whenever possible.
Strictly observe confidentiality of medical data.
Conduct, without fail, systematic screening for tuberculosis of prisoners entering all facilities.
Respond immediately to complaints from any prisoner or his or her cell-mates that a prisoner may be suffering from symptoms of active tuberculosis.
Ensure that the internationally-recommended tuberculosis control strategy, directly observed therapy, short course (DOTS), is undertaken effectively by providing a regular supply of anti-tuberculosis drugs in sufficient quantities to all facilities and by training medical personnel in issuing DOTS.
Provide nutrition and material conditions that are conducive to the improvement of tuberculosis patients’ health.
Speedily agree on common priorities and a timetable for a responsible transfer of responsibility for detainees’ healthcare.

To the European Union

To the European Commission

Formulate specific benchmarks in the Implementation Strategy of the European Neighborhood Policy (ENP) Action Plan, with concrete timelines for implementation, to ensure that the Georgian government takes effective steps in a timely manner to address human rights abuses and institutional shortcomings in the penitentiary system.
Ensure continuous and rigorous monitoring of the human rights commitments made by the Georgian government under the ENP Action Plan.
Condition deepening of engagement with the government of Georgia on its achieving the specific benchmarks set out in the Implementation Strategy of the Action Plan.
Condition deepening of engagement with the government of Georgia on its compliance with the obligations and commitments towards the Council of Europe.
Encourage and accept input from local and international nongo vernmental organizations, lawyers, and other independent specialists regarding Georgia’s fulfillment of its commitments under the ENP Action Plan.
Ensure that funding for penitentiary system monitoring and reform supports organizations and individuals qualified to perform these tasks.
Ensure that funding for penitentiary system reform includes projects aimed at rectifying human rights abuses in the penitentiary system.
Ensure that the Georgian government is taking all possible steps to implement the EU Torture Guidelines and monitor its progress in this regard as part of the overall monitoring undertaken in the context of Georgia’s commitments under the ENP Action Plan.

To the European Council

Make abuses in the Penitentiary Department and calls for specific steps to address them an integral part of bilateral dialogues with the Georgian government on human rights concerns.
Encourage Georgia to reverse current policies that restrict prisoners’ rights.
Make short-, medium-, and long-term progress on remedying human rights abuses in the penitentiary system a condition for deepening engagement.
Encourage the EU special representative for the South Caucasus to make abuses in the penitentiary system a focus of his work on Georgia, and request that he monitor the Georgian government’s progress in addressing these abuses and report to the council his findings.
Ensure that the Georgian government is taking all possible steps to implement the EU Torture Guidelines.

To the European Parliament

Appoint a rapporteur to monitor Georgia’s progress on human rights, including Georgia’s short-, medium-, and long-term progress on remedying human rights abuses in the penitentiary system and Georgia’s overall fulfillment of its human rights commitments under the ENP Action Plan.
Use the opportunity of the upcoming European Parliament report on the EU Torture Guidelines to make specific policy recommendations regarding the EU’s engagement with Georgia, including that deepening engagement with Georgia should be conditioned on its short-, medium-, and long-term progress on remedying human rights abuses in the penitentiary system.
Ensure that the European Council and the European Commission maintain an adequate focus on the penitentiary system in Georgia and use the leverage provided by the European Neighborhood Policy to press for positive change.

To the Council of Europe

The Parliamentary Assembly Monitoring Committee should make abuses in the penitentiary system a focus of its upcoming assessment of Georgia’s progress in implementing its obligations and commitments stemming from its Council of Europe membership, with specific recommendations for steps to address them.
The commissioner for human rights should make the most of his upcoming visit report on Georgia to highlight abuses in the penitentiary system as a key area of concern, and formulate specific recommendations to address them.
Enhance and expand existing training programs aimed at supporting human rights education among Penitentiary Department employees, including existing and new employees.
Ensure that consultation with local and international NGOs engaged in monitoring and/or reform of the penitentiary system is a key part of all trainings and other activities undertaken by the Council of Europe in this field.
Ensure that recommendations made concerning the new Penitentiary Code take into consideration the findings and the recommendations provided in this report.
In the process of reviewing proposed legislative changes, including changes to the Penitentiary Code, the Criminal Code, and the Criminal Procedure Code, consult with Georgian and international lawyers and NGOs.

To the United Nations

The special rapporteur on torture should take into account this report’s findings in his follow-up monitoring and reporting of the Georgian government’s implementation of the recommendations detailed in his September 2005 report.
The high commissioner for human rights should lend support to calls for reform of the penitentiary system and underscore in her communications with the Georgian authorities the importance of the government’s implementing the recommendations of the special rapporteur on torture.
Encourage the Georgian government to take into consideration information from international and domestic NGOs when drafting reports to UN treaty monitoring bodies.

To the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe

Continue support for the Penitentiary Training Center and continue training programs, including both initial training for new staff and professional development for existing staff, for employees of both new and old prisons.
Ensure that all training programs include a strong human rights component.
Continue regular monitoring activities throughout the penitentiary system.

To the United States Government

Make abuses in the penitentiary system and calls for specific steps to address them an integral part of bilateral dialogues with the Georgian government on human rights concerns. Make progress on remedying the ongoing abuses a condition for deepening engagement.
Provide support to NGOs engaged in prison monitoring and other prison projects, such as the creation of work and education programs.

To International Financial Institutions

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the World Bank should highlight abuses in the penitentiary system in their country strategies for Georgia as an issue of serious concern, and encourage the authorities to take specific steps to address them.

September 2006

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