Shameful First Place in Europe

Georgia has ranked first place in Europe with its number of prisoners per 100 000 national population

The Human Rights Center is concerned with the fact that the Government of Georgia still continues its Zero Tolerance policy since 2006 and unfortunately, liberalization of the criminal law system still remains only a topic of conversations. In parallel to it, the number of prisoners in Georgian custodies is increasing on a daily basis.

The facts revealed by famous international organizations are really alarming. The London based organization, International Center for Prison Studies reported that in 2003 Georgia ranked 59th place with 148 prisoners per 100 000 national population among 155 states in the world. By 2012 Georgia has moved up to 4th place with 539 prisoners per 100 000 national population among 216 countries in the world. Georgia outran Russia which ranked 6th place and which was previously in third place (see http://www.prisonstudies.org/info/worldbrief/wpb_stats.php?area=all&category=wb_poprate).

According to the same data, Georgia ranked first place in Europe and even outran the Russian Federation (see http://www.prisonstudies.org/info/worldbrief/wpb_stats.php?area=europe&category=wb_poprate).

The released data demonstrates that in this field the government of Georgia has really “defeated” Russia and outrun it. We really worry that if the trend continues, Georgia will achieve counter-record not only in Europe but worldwide too.

It is noteworthy that all so-called independent studies carried out in Georgia and official statistics of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia speak about reduced crime in the country. The government often tries to promote Georgia as the “safest country”, while the figures provided by influential international organizations claim the opposite.

The Human Rights Center calls upon the Government of Georgia to immediately start liberalization of the criminal law policy and to put an end to its ostentatious cosmetic amendments.

In order to eradicate the problem of overcrowded penitentiary settings, the government shall promptly start working on the eradication of the problem causes.

Thus, the following issues shall be on the agenda of the government: annulment of the principle of collecting punishments; decriminalization of less dangerous offenses for society and in general turning the Zero Tolerance policy into a human policy; investigation of cases of ill-treatment; the creating employment strategy and the working plan for the convicted; implementation of educational and rehabilitation programs; ensuring healthcare rights for prisoners; improvement of conditions for juvenile prisoners; allowing public monitoring in custodies, amending the laws which contradict the EU standards.

Simultaneously, we suggest the government to honestly execute the November 17, 2011 Resolution of the European Parliament which contains set of recommendations to EU’s key institutions, including its diplomatic service, European External Action Service (EEAS), on the negotiations of the EU-Georgia Association Agreement. (2011/2133(INI). With the resolution the European Parliament „call for the Georgian Government to further improve the physical conditions in prisons and detention centres, continue to provide its full support to the Public Defender of Georgia, responsible for monitoring human rights violations, and consider facilitating civil society and human rights non-governmental organisations in visiting persons in prisons and detention centres.”

The Human Rights Center
13.01.12