Gela Mtivlishvili, Kakheti
Excessive use of force during the detention of the suspected people has become urgent problem in Georgia for the last 5-6 years. Since 2004, the policemen were less inhuman when arresting people. However, recently, the problem has become more systematic. In Kakheti region, facts of excessive use of force have increased in Kakheti region.
Officers of the Gurjaani district police department detained Anri Chichikoshvili and Aleksandre Noniashvili for robbery on April 2.
“At Gurjaani police station my brother was forced to plead guilty. More precisely, he had to plead guilty in the robbery and in various unresolved crimes. Since he refused, the policemen beat him. Later, they searched my grandmother’s house which they thought was Anri’s house. They planted weapon and drugs in the house and before finishing the search, they discovered their own weapon and drugs there,” said the sister of the detainee Anri Chichikoshvili Maia Arutinova.
According to Arutinova, the detainee spoke about physical assault at the trial when preventive measures were imposed on him. However, the judge did not pay attention to his statement. “There were no injuries on his face; we could not see his body. He said he was beaten with wet towel which does not leave injuries on the body.”
The health conditions of the detainee worsened after he was placed in pretrial detention setting in Gurjaani. Chichikoshvili was taken to Sagarejo district hospital. The doctors diagnosed he had pneumonia; they prescribed antibiotics and sent him back to the detention setting.
The law enforcement officers did not allow lawyer Lia Khuroshvili to see her client Aleksandre Noniashvili for two hours who was arrested together with Chichikoshvili.
The Human Rights Center spread information about physical assault of citizens by the Gurjaani district policemen. “Law enforcement officers detained father and son Givi and Aleksandre Papalashvilis for illegal restriction of freedom of a person. The policemen beat Aleksandre Papalashvili in the interrogation room in order to make them plead guilty in the accusation. At the Gurjaani district court the detainee had his nose broken and bruises on his face. We wanted to report about the physical assault at the trial but the accused said he had fallen down and received injuries from it.”
Public Defender of Georgia Giorgi Tughushi confirmed that facts of excessive use of force and abusing power by policemen have increased.
“Citizens in their appeals to the Public Defender’s office often complain about cynic, degrading and insulting behavior of the policemen towards them. There are many facts when policemen insult the detainees that is categorically prohibited. The honor and dignity of a person shall be respected in every situation. Policeman, first of all, is obliged to treat the detainee humanly,” said Tughushi.
Ombudsman said as a result of the monitoring of the second half of 2009 facts of physical assault after placing a detainee in pretrial detention settings were not observed.
“However, very often people are placed in the pretrial detention settings with injuries. However, even when the detainee claims he was beaten by the policemen during detention, he does not appeal against law enforcement officers. It is fact that people are more often injured during detention,” said the public defender.
It is noteworthy that every similar case is recorded in the registration journal of detainees. However, according to the ombudsman, administrations of several detention settings report tothe prosecutor’s office about similar fact only if the detainee complains about it.
In the case “Kolobama VS Moldavia” the European Court of Human Rights clarified that when a person is injured during the detention or when s/he is under control of policemen, every similar injury breads strong presumption of inhuman treatment. The state is entitled to provide substantial clarification what caused the injuries. The court thinks, if the state does not provide similar clarifications, the Article 3 of the European Convention of Human Rights is breached.
If the facts of physical assault of citizens by the policemen are exposed, the human rights defenders always appeal to corresponding institutions, mostly to prosecutor’s office and request to start investigation on the fact. There are cases when prosecutor’s office does not start investigation because of lack of evidence. Even if the investigation starts, it is dropped either for the same reason or is prolonged endlessly. According to the statistic data, in 2009-2010 not a single policemen was convicted for abusing power in Kakheti region.
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