NGOs Demand that CPT Report Be Published

NGOs Demand that CPT Report Be Published

Georgian NGOs, including the Human Rights Information and Documentation Center, the Georgian Young Lawyers Association and the Constitution’s Defence Center applied to the Minister of Justice Konstantine Kemularia, the General Prosecutor Zurab Adeishvili and the Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili, demanding that the Georgian government give permission to the CPT (Committee for the Prevention of Torture) to allow public access to the report which they prepared in 2004.

The delegation of the Committee for the Prevention of Torture was in Georgia in November 2003 and May 2004. The committee submitted a report of the results of their visit to the Georgian government in the beginning of 2005. After their 2003-04 visit, they compiled a report detailing cases of torture in Georgia and developed corresponding recommendations for the Georgian government on how to deal with the problem. This report is considered to be a confidential document until the government permits the Committee to publish it. However, as the statement of the NGOs reads, Georgian side has procrastinated with giving permission to the Committee to publish the report. CPT still continues a dialogue with the Georgian government to get permission to publish the report.

The NGOs’ statement reads, in part:
Taking into consideration, that giving permission to the Committee for the Prevention of Torture to publish the report is an expression of the willingness of the Georgian government to recognize the priority of combating torture and its readiness to cooperate with the international commonwealth to eradicate it, we call for the taking of immediate steps for giving the committee permission to publish the report of 2004.