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Arbitrary Injustice
Grave Violation of Human Rights in Georgia
World Report 2007 (http://hrw.org/wr2k7/index.htm) and special report “Undue Punishment - Abuses against Prisoners in Georgia” (http://hrw.org/reports/2006/georgia0906/) of Human Rights Watch (HRW) from September 2006 . Both reports document, human rights abuses remain widespread throughout the Georgian judicial, criminal and prison systems linked with overcrowding, appalling material conditions and levels of hygiene, major deficiencies of health care, practically non-existent activity programs in prison. They note also that the executive wields strong influence over the judiciary.
In their reports on Georgia, the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT), the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), the United Nations special rapporteur on torture, and the United Nations Committee Against Torture (CAT) have all reported on the abuses and institutional deficiencies in judicial, criminal and prison systems.
In 2001 the PACE monitoring committee noted, "We were shocked by the dramatic overcrowding in the pre-trial detention centres, mainly in the section of adult men. It is hard to describe without emotion the circumstances under which human beings are kept. We described the situation to Georgian official s. and explained that in the European Union it is not permitted to keep even pigs under such conditions." (1)
The special HRW report documents facts about degrading and inhumane keeping and treatment of prisoners.
The conditions in overcrowded and rotten prisons beggar description and are appalling inhuman and even not right for guilty criminals. But for an innocent and serious ill person is it disastrous. The report describes the regular imprisonment, but the situation of my client is even more dangerously because of tightened imprisonment.
Prison officers have subjected many prisoners to beatings and other ill treatment as punishment or just for fun. These beatings and other inhuman treatment constituted torture.
Furthermore, the prisoners have no access to an effective complaint mechanism and have limited or no ability to communicate confidentially with their lawyers. This is a fundamental violation of due process.
Detainees receive inadequate food or nutrition and often get substandard or no medical care. In these conditions they are at real risk of acquiring tuberculosis or other diseases. HRW found medical care for detainees to be wholly inadequate in all facilities. Detainees widely complained of health problems and lack of care, and the Republican Prison Hospital failed to meet basic standards for treatment. There are neither normal hospital departments or divisions nor enough equipment and medicine. These conditions are so extremely hazardous to the health of our client they give us sleepless nights. The situation for psychiatric patients within the penitentiary system is grave (please see page 35-42 of special report). The European Court of Human Rights has pointed out that a failure to provide adequate medical treatment to a detainee in prison may contribute to conditions amounting to degrading treatment, resulting in a violation of article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights. (See Melnik v. Ukraine, no. 72286/01, judgement of March 28, 2006).
(1): PACE, “Honouring of obligations and commitments by Georgia,” para.105.
Additional external links:
- Human Rights Watch, an organization dedicated to protecting the human rights of people around the world.
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