Ill-Treatment of prisoners in Kutaisi Prison

Netgazeti

After holding a monitoring in the penitentiary departments in Imereti region the special group of Ombudsman of Georgia found that the convicts in #2 penitentiary department of Kutaisi are still treated badly. The facts of collective punishment and ill-treatment still prevail.

According to the press service of Public Defender, during the monitoring, the members of special preventive group talked with the prisoners, employees of the department and medical personnel. The main emphasis was put on the issues of treatment of prisoners. In this regard Kutaisi #2 penitentiary department drew particular attention.

The convicts placed in Kutaisi #2 penitentiary department note with the representatives of Ombudsman that, as a rule, the employees treat them rudely, provocatively and in a degrading way. According to prisoners, any contact with the employees of the department can cause a conflict and insult.

Though the prisoners are allowed to take one hour walk on a fresh air, majority state that they abstain to do so since in most of the cases if one prisoner greets another, they are made to stop walking and return to their cells.

According to the information of Ombudsman, Kutaisi #2 department still uses methods of collective punishment – for the misdemeanor of one prisoner, the whole cells gets punished which is additional mechanism for pressuring the administration. The situation is the same in the cells where the prisoners take shifts and the prisoner who is on duty is held responsible for the actions of other prisoners. Refusing to take shift becomes cause for physical assault or punishment.

Ombudsman also notes in the statement disseminated on February 9th that unlike previous monitoring, the practice of placing prisoners in the so-called “boxes” – 2-3 square meter storeroom where there is no bed and chair and the people placed there have to sleep on the floor has stopped.

The members of monitoring group also visited the prisoners placed in the punishment cells. They stated that no pressure has been used against them during or after the placement. However, several convicts placed in other cells noted that when they were placed in the punishment cells, they were forced to take off their clothes every morning in order to humiliate them. The members of the monitoring group note that it was unbearably cold in the punishment cells during the monitoring.

According to the Ombudsman, every prisoner can use bathroom only once a week. During the monitoring, several convicts received magazines and newspaper Kviris Palitra through the post. According to prisoners, they are prohibited to receive other newspapers.

During the monitoring 23 prisoners of Kutaisi #2 Penitentiary department were on quarantine. While opening the door of the isolation cell, the prisoners put their hands on head and start standing facing the window. Several noted that they have to do this three or four times a day and sometimes it lasts for half an hour. If they do not get up in seconds they get punished. Some prisoners noted with the representatives of Ombudsman, that while on quarantine, during morning check-up, the employees of administration physically and verbally assaulted them. However, according to them, this did not happen regularly.

Besides, prisoners placed in the cell of quarantine do not have right to apply their right to take walk and use bathroom. They are not given linens and items to keep hygiene. In most cases, they use common vessels. The representatives of the Ombudsman also visited Geguti #14 department where none of the prisoners expressed complaint regarding the treatment from the side of the employees. According to the prisoners, their main problem is that they can’t send complaints and requests from the department. As for the relations with the administration, according to the convicts, the director of the department regularly visits them, talks to them and tries to help within his competence. No prisoner was placed in the punishment cells or quarantine cells during the monitoring.

The Aversi pharmacy was opened in the #14 Geguti and #2 Kutaisi departments. One pharmacist works in both pharmacies – for three days in Kutaisi and two days in Geguti.