Cases of Torture in Rustavi Prison # 16 – Collective Letter from Prisoners

Manon Bokuchava, Kvemo Kartli

Relatives of the inmates of Rustavi Prison # 16 appealed to Human Rights Center for help. They said prisoners had prepared a collective petition and handed it to the Public Defender’s Office. More than 1 500 prisoners signed it and they have requested the publication of the petition.

The Public Defender’s Office gave the copy of the prisoners’ petition to humanrights.ge which we publish here in the original form:

“As you know, our rights have been regularly breached since the new facility Prison # 16 was opened years ago. Deputy director of the prison Davit Mumladze, head of security service Ilo Lutidze, regime officer Giorgi Jgarkava and officer Temur Korshia have been abusing us.

Chief doctor Badri Tezelashvili has been present during this abuse. Other medical personnel are also rude, and treat inmates with sarcasm and discrimination. They would burst into our cells,  tear our icons down from the walls, take us to punishment cells and beat us. They used to place us in punishment cells in order to deprive us of the right of long appointments.

When they came in to search they threw bottles away and we had no water supply for two days. They used to leave us with only one bucket of water while there was no interruption to the water supply in the prison yard.

They never switched on the ventilation in summer and we were in hot  cells.

When any visitors were coming to the prison- Gaga Mkurnalidze and Davit Chakua were the most frequent guests- they used to sit in the prison yard for several hours whilst we were ordered to shut windows and sit in our hot cells.

They used to switch off the telephone whenever they wanted and it could last for several weeks. They justified it by saying people were calling the wrong numbers, or by ongoing demonstrations, etc.

They used to take us outside at 10:00 am in all weathers; nobody allowed us to stay in the facility even if we were ill. If we refused to go out, they never allowed us to go into the yard in the afternoon.

We needed to argue with the staff in order to have the right to go to church during religious holidays; they used to leave us there only five minutes and then send us back to the cells.

They took TV-sets from us for no reason; we are not allowed to watch all TV-Channels. We watch only Rustavi 2, Imedi, RealTV and only entertainment programs.

The number of telephones is restricted for a facility with 3 000 inmates; there are only 14 landline phones.

Former director of this prison Vazha Tskhvediani was beating people; he was beating prisoners in punishment cells together with Davit Mumladze (his deputy) and Ilo Lutidze. Mumladze has a dog and they used to order the dog to attack beaten prisoners and they were video-recording this on their cell phones.

After Vazha Tskhvediani arrived in this facility, our life became unbearable. People were . Every day was panicking and almost every member of the prison administration participated in what Vazha Tskhvediani and Davit Mumladze organized.

Cucumbers and tomatoes were not allowed to be sent to the prison. We did not know what color linen was prohibited for prisoners; it depended on their mood. That’s why our families were sending linen of different colors, because sometimes prison personnel didn't let them through.

They used to take 20 men to the bathroom together. When we were soaped they used to switch off the water. They were playing with us – sometimes they turned on hot, sometimes cold water. Leaving the bathroom we were left in the drafty corridor in summer and winter until everybody was gathered. According to the rule, we could take a bath twice a week but in fact we were only allowed to take a bath once a week.

Phone cards expire after three calls and then we cannot get a new balance till the next month.

Newspapers are not delivered to the prison at all; we cannot buy them in the prison shop either; nobody can send them by parcels or post.

The aforementioned prison personnel still threaten us with the post-election situation and claim we will face worse treatment afterwards.

Our main request is to fire the old personnel and first of all Davit Mumladze, Jgarkava, Ilo Lutidze from the prison.

We agree to make this petition public and to forward it to the Chief Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia and Minister of Corrections and Legal Assistance for further response.”

Representatives of the Public Defender’s Office told humanrights.ge that they had responded to this letter and appealed to the prosecutor’s office.

According to our information, the aforementioned people still occupy their positions although prisoners are demanding their dismissal. Among them is deputy director of the prison, Davit Mumladze.