It Is Raining Cats And Dogs in Unaddressed Prison

"Construction of this building lasted one year.  Prisoners have all necessary conditions for living, and employees have necessary conditions for working. I have worse living conditions in my house," the former chairman of the Penitentiary System, Bacho Akhalaia, declared exactly a year ago on December 24, when he showed off detention and isolation cells in Kutaisi.

Several months after this statement, people started to speak about the poor living conditions in the prison.

Ombudsman Sozar Subar spoke about the problem in his speech to Parliament. "Prisoners were moved to the new prison too fast. Construction had not been finished by the time prisoners moved in. The water system and central heating had not been tested, yet. The administration hurried to house detainees in it," the Ombudsman stated to the legislative body.

Despite these remarks, conditions are still alarming in the prison. The prison systems are in the poorest conditions, and the roof leaks. The prison’s commission, which was immediately established after the building’s presentation, has appealed to the Ministry of Justice several times regarding the fact without any result.

"The most alarming problem is the poor state of the prison’s systems, on which prisoners and employees depend. Many mistakes were made during the construction. In fact, the repairs were carried out in a hurry. Every wall has a crack in it. Both prisoners and employees have problems because of rain leaking into the cells and showers. I do not think anybody wanted to create a bad situation in the prison, because it might cause further difficulties," said Manana Managadze, chairwoman of the prison’s commission.

Relatives of the prisoners complain about the poor conditions in the prison. Mother of a fourteen-year-old prisoner said that she would prefer if her son served his time abroad and if she could not visit, rather than him serving time in Kutaisi. Her son lives in a damp, squalid place. "The parcels are checked several times. We have to stay in a line for hours. Make them open a store in the prison area and buy food there.  It would be much easier and they will not have to check each cigarette and confectionery box," said Marina Ninidze.

Opening a shop in the area is impossible at present. The Kutaisi prison does not have a legal address yet, what will cause many problems in future. "It is a serious violation. We have appealed to the Ministry of Justice several times. However, they did not reply us. Nobody on the earth knows the address of the prison building. There are 1,500 prisoners in the setting at present. We want to cooperate with administration of the prison, the Ministry of Justice, and the Ministry of Prisons," said Irakli Julakidze, another member of the prison’s commission.

The problems in the Kutaisi Detention Setting originated because of the failure of prison officials to acknowledge the receipt of the building after repair works were finished. According to the construction specialists, the building is legally not in use without such document. The state spent 11,200,000 GEL on construction.

"We visited the juvenile's section during monitoring, and the rain was leaking in one of the cells. The prisoners were holding a bowl in one hand and eating with another. This building needs to be rebuilt," said Managadze.

On December 29, the commission is going to present this year’s report to the Ministry of Justice. Recommendations have not been changed since last year. Among these include a functioning roof, running water, and other minimal living standards.

Shorena Kakabadze, Kutaisi