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Torture – Governmental Carte-Blanche

June 9, 2004

Torture – Governmental Carte-Blanche

The carte-blanche from the side of the authorities in Georgia has become the reason for the boundless violations by police and, as a result, the increasing number of victims of torture. The attempts of the new government to establish order by force give rise to grave consequences in the law-enforcement system wherein they deal with human dignity, freedom and life. Post-Revolution Georgia is the witness of more victims of torture including two deaths.

On the basis of NGO observation it could be stated that relevant political, public and psychological atmosphere for defending fundamental human rights does not exist in Georgia. Along with the violations of other fundamental rights in  recent years, the frequent incidents of citizens’ torture and inhuman and degrading treatment towards people has become particularly noticeable after the “Rose Revolution” of November 2003. The number of victims of torture has  increased with, furthermore, the deathof two  men,George Inasaridze, who was found hanged in the pre-detention cell of the Ministry of Internal Affairs on 20 December 2003 (a day after his detention), and Khvicha Kvirikashvili, who died f a half hour later, after the policemen of Gldani-Nadzaladevi  (Mukhiani Department) had taken him home on 23 May2004. It should be noted that there was no evidence of  prisoners’ deaths during 2003 before the November Revolution.

A statement from the NGO ’’Former Political Prisoners for Human Rights’’reads: ’’According to the new tradition, established by the revolutionary government, all tortured detainees turn out to have been injured as a result of showing resistance whilst being detained and all the persons who were killed by policemen are said to have  resisted police whose only recourse was to open fire on them.”

It is noteworthy, too, that despite the facts relating to the increase of torture in Georgia, none of the policemen accused of this abuses have been punished according to Article 335 of the Georgian Criminal Code which calls for imprisonment from four to ten years.

We can state that no one is presently in control of the existing situation in the country because the mechanism of monitoring the power-holders is completely and fundamentally disordered. the non-governmental sector has been considerably  weakened – the majority of them became the governmental ones and NGOs which are truly fighting for the defence of human rights are considered by the government as counter-revolutionaries and have been restricted in their ways of functioning. During the old government, for example, there was the good will—and not the law—of the government which provided for the monitoring but now there is no access even for that. The Monitoring Councils of the Justice Ministry, comprising 17 NGO representatives, have been abolished according to the statement of the Minister. The motive for this decision, taken on 30 April 2004, was the creation of the new councilsal though the process has not moved ahead and every mechanism of monitoring in the prisons has exhausted.

In our interview with Mr Gela Nikoleishvili, of “Former Political Prisoners for Human Rights,” he stated that the torture rate has become so very alarming in Georgia, especially after the Revolution, because the third sector and media was strong in Shevardnadze’s period together with the significant international influence. Currently, however, all the mechanisms have been abolished or destroyed.  There is no public defender, real NGOs are rare and there is intense pressure on the functioning of the free media. Some of the media representatives cannot endure the oppression and provocation and prefer to stop their operations altogether. The pressure is not exercised directly on the journalists but, as we further observed, also on the editors or owners of the media and on the journalists  themselves. As for the international organisations, they put their hope in the Revolution but lately have started to evaluate the whole situation and have criticised the governmental activities.

Question: How did the CPT evaluate the situation in the prisons of Georgia after their last visit?

Answer: They have not published their report yet, but they did mention that they have not seen such terrible prisons anywhere else. The facts regarding torture do not take place in the prisons, but the situation in prisons constitutes one of the forms of torture, it can be said. The sanitary conditions are terrible  and the prisons have exceeded the number of inmates in one cell who have, in fact, to sleep in turn. The most terrible situation is in Jail 5 in Tbilisi and in the Jail 2 in Kutaisi.

Q: Where does the  torture take place?

A: Torture takes place in the pre-detention cells. The aim of the abuse is to force evidence, whether it is true or false. The policeman, for example, has two purposes when exercising torture.  One is to reveal the crime and the second is to receive a confession and then to extort money.  It is quite often that a  policeman will purposely plant drugs or armson a person in order to put him in prison.
 
Q:  Has any victim of torture applied to the Court for that reason?

A: As usual, the prisoners themselves avoid publicising these facts because they are frightened. It became very common that attorneys are not allowed to help their defendants.

Q:  How has the number of incidents of torture increased?

A: The situation is alarming because the abuses have certainly increased. We have observed approximately 150 acts ourselves but the real number is thought to be significantly higher.

 

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