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Torture Is Still Serious Problem

December 2, 2008

Nona Suvarian, Tbilisi

On December 2 Sozar Subari, Georgian Public Defender, presented part of report for 2008 where facts of torture, inhuman or degrading treatment are discussed.

“Torture is still a serious problem in Georgia. Impunity syndrome is very common for torturers. Sometimes they are punished but cases remain uninvestigated if the torturer is high-ranking official. For example, Erekle Kodua, head of Constitutional Security Department, Megis Kardava, deputy head of the same department. One of the recent cases deals with the assassination of Roin Shavadze, (Georgian soldier who was killed soon after the August war),” stated Sozar Subari to journalists.

The ombudsman stated that if their office discovers facts of torture and sends them to the prosecutor’s office, the latter starts to interview tortured people and not investigation. After these “interviews” tortured people refuse they were abused and tell “stories” how they got injuries on their bodies.

Although the number of torture facts reduced in comparison with 2005, which means not that everybody is beaten and how the overall situation has not greatly changed that much. The reduction of similar harassment started since murders of Zurab Vazagashvili and Aleksandre Khubulov were widely discussed in the society. Police still continues to abuse their power. The crimes committed by law enforcers are not investigated or are not imposed with proper liability.”

Sozar Subari spoke about most famous facts of torture; among them include the torture of Gela Tsindeliani, Roin Shavadze (tortured and murdered), Paata Kardava, Aleksi Bakhutov, etc. Public Defender paid attention to the torture of juveniles.

Sozar Subari: “no case that does not deal with the torture of people in prisons are investigated. Similar facts have occurred since 2005, especially when Bacho Akhalaia occupied the position as the head of penitentiary department. The most astonishing fact happened in January 2006 when Batumi prison was searched and it lasted several hours. All prisoners were naked during the search. They were initially beaten in the corridors, and then took them out to the yard and this incident still has not investigated yet.’

Sozar Subari states that there is no political will exists to investigate the torture cases and to bring the criminals to justice.

Nana Kakabadze, head of the non-governmental organization “Former Political Prisoners for Human Rights”, assessed the current situation as extremely hard.

Nana Kakabadze: “There is no way out. I met with representatives of Armenia and Azerbaijan NGOs.  It is considered that democracy is less developed in their countries than in Georgia. But in this field Georgia falls in last place, especially  when it come to the conditions of the prisoners and they face torture and inhuman treatment, not to mention the lack of transparency in penitentiary department. This system is closed only in our country like it was during Soviet Union. In Armenia 104 out of 100 thousand people are prisoner, in Azerbaijan 202 out of 100 thousand people are prisoner and in Georgia we have 500 prisoners out of 100 thousand. Our prisoners are sites of torture for no other reason than to prevent them from raising legal requests.” 

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