Prisoner’s Wife Alleges She Was Obliged to Bring ID Numbers of Their Family Members

Shorena Kakabadze, Kutaisi

“My husband asked me to bring the ID numbers of our family members several weeks ago. He said that the prison administration had demanded them. It was useless to resist and I gave him the ID numbers. We realized that it was connected with the upcoming elections. There are only a few days left until the elections and who will guarantee me that he will not face any danger before and even after the elections?!” the wife of an inmate of Kutaisi Prison #2 told humanrights.ge

Lawyers and representatives of nongovernmental organizations have talked about other similar incidents. Civil society condemns the current situation in penitentiary facilities.

The public movement “Stop Act”, which was established by representatives of media and nongovernmental organizations on September 19, continues to hold assemblies in front of state institutions in Kutaisi and requests entrance into Kutaisi Prison # 2. The demonstrators announced this request in front of the regional office of the Constitutional Security Department on September 26. They claim inmates are in unbearable conditions in prison and have been on hunger strike to demand the dismissal of prison personnel for several days already.

“Representatives of media and nongovernmental organizations must necessarily enter the prison. Patrol officers and Public Defender’s representatives claim there is peace in the prison but it is not enough. Moreover, I believe the Public Defender’s Office is one of the non-functioning chains of this system. You might remember Giorgi Tugushi’s reports where he clearly described problems in the penitentiary system but now we have learned that it was absolutely useless. The reports provided information but nobody responded to them at all. The facts, which were reported by TV-Channels, are not new at all. It has been happening for several years and we, lawyers as well as several NGOs (including Human Rights Center), have been consistently speaking about these problems,” lawyer Evgeni Omanadze said.

He told humanrights.ge that he is going to visit inmates of Kutaisi Prison # 2. “I will definitely enter the prison. Prisoners are asking to meet with me. Some of them have been imprisoned arbitrarily and are serving terms for absurd reasons. That is the Georgian judiciary system; the court works in this way in our country. According to my information, several prisoners have been on hunger-strike for five days already. Amongst them are my clients. In general, prisoners are in poor conditions due to the current management of prisons.”

Humanrights.ge got in touch with the Public Defender’s attorney in Imereti region. Madona Basiladze said nobody had appealed to them with the request to enter the prison.

“We have spent much time in Kutaisi Prison # 2 and are thoroughly studying the situation there. Several prisoners are in fact on hunger strike; they are requesting the dismissal of prison personnel,” Madona Basiladze said, clarifying that several employees of the prison administration have already quit their jobs.

“We will continue protest demonstrations to support prisoners’ rights and will not stop until we enter Kutaisi prison and personally see what is going on there. We demand permission to see what conditions for inmates are like there – both for those who are and those who are not on hunger strike,” said the head of Public Monitoring and Civic Interest Defense Center Argusi Manana Managadze. In 2007-2008 she was chairwoman of the Public Monitoring Group of the Kutaisi Prison # 2; after two years' activity, the government removed her from her position as a monitor.